Record Chasing Acerbi

By Max Wise

Spare a thought for Lazio defender Francesco Acerbi whose hopes of breaking an enviable Serie A record got dashed with a red card in the Biancocelesti’s 2-1 loss to Napoli on Sunday.

Stretching back to October 2015 during his time at Sassuolo, Acerbi had completed the full 90 minutes of 148 consecutive Serie A games with Sunday’s encounter being his 149th on the spin.

Acerbi needed only 14 more games to beat former Inter Milan Captain Javier Zanetti’s record of 162 consecutive Serie A appearances, but a 70th-minute foul on Jose Maria Callejon saw him being sent off.

The 30-year-old Italian international has had to overcome adversity to come this far after being diagnosed of testicular cancer in the 2013/2014.

Acerbi later tweeted: "I apologise for leaving my teammates with 10 men at such a difficult time of the match. The 149 consecutive games played to date must be the starting point to start from."

Lazio manager Simone Inzaghi, brother of former AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi, however, insisted that Acerbi should not have seen red.

"I'm sorry because we were back to 2-1 and there were 25 minutes left. Acerbi clearly took the ball, then maybe even the opponent. They are the sort of episodes which have gone against us recently."

Acerbi, who has played all 20 games in the Serie A and scored three goals this season, will miss Lazio’s next game against champions Juventus at the Stadio Olympico.