The agony and ecstasy of injury-time goals are emotions known only too well to Serie A supporters, but who are the winners and losers when those last-gasp strikes have hit the back of the net during the 2022/23 campaign?
When Felipe Anderson of Lazio placed the ball into an empty net in the fourth minute of added time at Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon, it was the 36th goal scored after 90 minutes, which is 7.7 per cent of all the goals scored in the top flight so far.
The most prolific weekend for late goals was Matchday 8, when the back of the net rippled seven times in stoppage time, although aided by an astonishing three being scored in the fixture between Empoli and AC Milan.
Beware of the Bianconeri
While Juventus remain a team to be feared in Italy, it is another side that play in black and white, Udinese, who have scored the most goals and obtained the most points (4) from injury-time strikes this term, although the Old Lady are in second place with three points secured late on.
The Turin giants do have the only player to have registered two goals in added time this season, though, and Arkadiusz Milik was close to a hat-trick of last-gasp strikes, but had a 94th-minute winner against Salernitana ruled out for offside on Matchday 6.
Lazio lacking late on
The fans that appear to have suffered most from their own team’s inability to keep out the opposition in the closing stages are the Laziali, with the Biancocelesti having dropped four points in stoppage time during the first 18 matchdays of 2022/23.
With Cremonese and Hellas Verona conceding more goals in the final moments than Lazio, it highlights just how crucial those goals have been to their hopes of Champions League qualification and an adjusted Serie A table would see them second behind leaders Napoli.
