Sculli saves point for ten-man Lazio against Vaslui

S.S. Lazio saved a point against FC Vaslui in the teams' UEFA Europa League Group D opener after an eventful 2-2 draw in Rome.

Vaslui had looked on course for a famous win as captain Wesley struck twice in quick succession around the hour mark to put his side in the lead following Djibril Cissé's first-half penalty for the hosts. Giuseppe Sculli rose well to head ten-man Lazio level soon after, however, and despite both teams' best efforts the spoils were shared.

Edoardo Reja's men had opened their domestic season with a creditable 2-2 draw at Italian champions AC Milan, and there was no shortage of confidence in their early display. Vytautas Černiauskas was soon called into action to deny Sculli and he then did brilliantly to tip over an Álvaro González shot.

It was not long before he was beaten, though, as Tommaso Rocchi was hauled down by Ionuţ Balaur in the area and Cissé dispatched the spot kick. Vaslui had not had an effort of note up until then, but Adailton twice produced saves from Federico Marchetti as the break neared. If it was a sign of things to come after half-time, Lazio did not heed the warning.

The hosts were sluggish after the restart, and a succession of Adailton set pieces resulted in Wesley flashing a header past Federico Marchetti. Four minutes later, Vaslui were in front as Mike Temwanjera burst into the Lazio box and was brought down by Luciano Zauri. The defender was dismissed and Wesley made no mistake from the resulting penalty.

Suddenly, Vaslui were in the box seat to become only the second Romanian team to win in Italy. However, the momentum swung again in the 71st minute as Cissé delivered a deep cross that Sculli rose to meet and power beyond Černiauskas.