Rabotnicki played much better in the return leg and even scored a goal but Lazio scored two goals in the 2nd half to record a 3:1 victory and secure a place in the Europa League group stages.

Lazio made drastic changes to their starting line-up with only three players, Andre Dias, Stefano Mauri, and Lionel Scaloni, starting both games of this matchup.  The Lazio manager decided to rest some of his key players since Lazio had a secure lead going into today’s return leg.  Rabotnicki looked like a different team and benefited by the fact that Lazio lacked urgency and just wanted to get the game over as quickly as possible.

The 1st half began with Rabotnicki controlling possession and creating several good opportunities.  The first dangerous moment came in the 4th minute when a Rabotnicki midfielder played a dangerous cross in the box but no player could reach the cross and it ended up going just wide for a goal kick.  In the 9th minute, Krste Velkoski made a nice run from the left before he found Borce Manevski whose shot from the edge of the area was saved nicely by the Lazio keeper Albano Bizzarri and it went for a corner.  A minute didn’t even pass when Stephan Vujčić attempted another shot but Bizzarri once again made the save before Lazio defender Modibo Diakité cleared the ball for a corner.  Lazio created their first real opportunity of the game in the 19th minute when a free kick played in the box reached Diakité but his shot went just wide of the goal.  Four minutes later, Lazio took the lead after Stefano Mauri created some havoc in the box before he found Tommaso Rocchi who scored an easy goal from close range into an empty goal.  The next 15 minutes went without much action before Rabotnicki scored a goal out of nowhere in the 39th minute.  Rabotnicki LB Dimitrija Lazarevski took a free kick and he just wanted to connect with a head of a teammate but the free kick was a tad long and it took a bounce before going past Bizzarri for a very soft goal.  That will not help Bizzarri in his hopes of receiving more playing time as he was given a rare start in this game over Federico Marchetti.  Rabotnicki attempted another shot in the 45th minute but Blaze Todorovski’s effort went over the goal.

The 2nd half started with Rabotnicki continuing their solid play and the first chance fell for Todorovski whose shot from distance was saved by Bizarri and it went for another corner.  Soon there after, Mauri came close during a counter attack but his shot went just over the goal.  Borce Manevski should have done better in the 54th minute when Todorovski found him in a good position but Manevski slipped before he could attempt a shot from a dangerous position inside the area.  Lazio substitute Hernanes brought some added creativity for Lazio and came close to scoring in the 66th minute but his shot went just inches wide of the left goal post.  A minute later, the dangerous Krste Velkoski made a nice dribble and found himself in a good position but his left footed shot was saved by Bizzarri.  There was chance after chance at this stage of the game and Libor Kozak almost scored for Lazio in the 69th minute but his shot from inside the area was saved by Dimitrievski and it went for a corner.  Finally, Lazio took the 2:1 lead in the 73rd minute when Hernanes combined nicely with another substitute in Cristian Ledesma before the Brazilian slotted a shot past Dimitrievski.  Four minutes later, Tommaso Rocchi added his second goal of the game when he was left unmarked in the box so he received a cross from the left before scoring past Dimitrievski.  A minute before the match ended, the Rabotnicki manager decided to give a European debut to 16 year old keeper Damjan Siskovski who came on for Stole Dimitrievski who was greeted with applause by the fans in the stands.

Overall, Rabotnicki played much better in this game but they were helped by the fact that Lazio lacked the urgency and motivation since they had a 6:0 lead going into today’s game.  The best players for Rabotnicki during the game were Krste Velkoski and Dimitrija Lazarevski.  It wouldn’t be surprising if Rabotnicki received some offers over the next week for the 23 year old Velkoski who was very threatening on the left wing and created several chances for himself and his teammates with his dribbling and movement.  He has been in good form throughout the Europa League qualifications.  In the end, Lazio advanced to the group stages of the Europa League by winning 9:1 on aggregate over the two games.  Rabotnicki will now shift their focus towards league play and their goal is to become champions of the Macedonian top division.

Video of the goals:

National Arena Phillip II of Macedon in Skopje, Macedonia
Referee: Menashe Masiah (Israel)
Scorers: 39′ Lazarevski (R); 23′, 77′ Rocchi, 73′ Hernanes (L).
Yellow Cards: Micevski 56′ (R); Diakité 22′, Kozak 65′ (L).
Red Cards: None
Rabotnicki: Dimitrievski (90′ Siskovski); Todorovski, Bogdanovik, Kumbev, Lazarevski; Micevski, Vujčić, Muarem (61′ Nastevski), Velkoski, Petkovski, Manevski (c) (63′ Trajkovski). Manager: Goran Petreski
Lazio: Bizzarri; Scaloni, Diakité, Dias (37′ Biava), Zauri; Lulić, Cana, Matuzalem, Mauri (57′ Hernanes), Rocchi (c), Kozak (71′ Ledesma). Manager: Edy Reja