Sunday 17th March 2002

With both teams looking to save something from the season and both looking for all three points, a draw was perhaps inevitable.

Hernan Crespo gave the visitors the lead at the start of the second half but an injury time penalty from Yllana levelled the tie.

Carlo Mazzone's side had the better of the game but they emerged happy with the one point but they badly need a win in order to maintain their Serie-A status. The ground is falling away beneath them but they're desperately clinging on, six games without defeat, but only one victory among them and with Inter, Roma and Juventus still to play they'll need all the luck that's going.

Lazio welcomed Japp Stam back to the fold, his nandrolone ban now over, and he added some much needed muscle to the Biancoceleste defence but they needed a good performance from their captain Alessandro Nesta.

Nesta had looked decidedly shaky in last week's Rome 'derby' reaching the nadir of his career with a thoroughly inept performance under the eyes of some of the biggest vultures in Europe's transfer market.

Following the derby defeat Zaccheroni was ready for some drastic action and he started the game with the youngster Evacuo playing behind Hernan Crespo in a 4-4-1-1 formation. Gazika Mendieta was on the bench alongside Claudio Lopez . Giannichedda and Liverani were occupying the centre of midfield, Stankovic and Poborsky were on the flanks.

Mazzone chose a 3-5-2 formation with Sussi and Binotto on the wings, Giunti and the Filippini twins were in midfield. Salgado joined Luca Toni up-front. The effect was numbing, the two teams cancelled each other out, Lazio explored the flanks, Binotto continually got down the right but nobody was getting anywhere fast.

Zac was the first to make a move, Claudio Lopez replaced the ineffectual Evacuo and the move changed the game. Lopez won the ball from a rebound, played it wide to Poborsky, he centered and Crespo gave the visitors the lead with an easy goal.

Mazzone was forced into responding, he sent on Jonathan Bachini for his first game in six months, and then Cariaccolo, reverting to a 4-4-2. Brescia pushed forward, forcing Lazio back deep, too deep even, and the breakthrough finally came when Pancaro brought down Bachini in the box, just as the game crept into injury time. Yllana converted the spot-kick and the tie was level but the game wasn't over. It was left to Brescia goalkeeper Castellazi to hold on to a point with a save from Nesta's last minute header.