Lazio increases hold on second place with win over Spezia

ROME (AP) — Lazio strengthened its hold on second place in Serie A with a 3-0 win at Spezia on Friday.

Felipe Anderson drew a penalty that Ciro Immobile converted, then scored another goal before Marcos Antonio added a third.

The victory extended Lazio’s unbeaten run in the league to eight matches and moved the Roman club eight points ahead of third-place Roma, which hosts Udinese on Sunday.

Lazio also moved within 13 points of runaway leader Napoli, which hosts relegation-threatened Hellas Verona on Saturday.

Spezia remained one spot above the drop zone.

Also, Cremonese beat Empoli 1-0 for its second straight win to boost its chances of avoiding relegation. Cyriel Dessers scored four minutes in for Cremonese after controlling a ball over the top and finding the target from the center of the area.

Cremonese has also reached the semifinals of the Italian Cup but was beaten 2-0 by Fiorentina in the first leg.

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