JORDAN Zemura and his Udinese teammates provided the knockout blow which floored Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri and forced him to quit the club on Tuesday.
Zemura played the last 17 minutes in Udinese’s shock 2-1 win over Lazio in an Italian Serie A game at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday night.
It was Lazio’s fifth defeat in six games in all competitions.
Lazio’s last game at the Stadio Olimpico, before their surprise defeat at the hands of Udinese, was a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in a UEFA Champions League match.
Monday’s home defeat by Udinese left Lazio ninth in Serie A, seven points off the final European qualification place.
Sarri, 65, joined Lazio in 2021 and led them to second place in Serie A last season, their best league finish since they won the title in 1999-2000.
Assistant manager Giovanni Martusciello has been placed in interim charge.
Lazio travel to third-bottom Frosinone on Saturday.
They face Juventus in the semi-finals of the Italian Cup over two legs next month.
Sarri spent one season at Chelsea in 2018-19, when he won the Europa League, finished third in the Premier League and reached the Carabao Cup final.
Before joining Chelsea, he led hometown club Napoli to two second-place finishes in three years and was named Serie A manager of the year in 2016-17.
He won the title with Juventus in 2019-20. – Sports Reporter/BBC Sport