Lazio booked their place in the European Cup Winners' Cup final in Rome last night, when they ground out a drab 0-0 draw with Lokomotiv Moscow. A 1-1 draw in the first leg was enough to put the Italian league leaders through to their second consecutive European final on the away goals rule.
Lazio allowed the Russians to take the early initiative, reeling them in only midway through a first half which saw Italy's World Cup striker Christian Vieri miss a series of chances.
Vieri signalled his presence after barely two minutes, latching onto a through pass from Roberto Mancini and powering in a shot which goalkeeper Ruslan Nigmatullin turned round for a corner.
A better chance fell four minutes later to Dmitri Bouylkin when he waltzed pass two Lazio defenders and rifled a low shot past Luca Marchegiani which flashed just wide of the far post.
And it proved to be the first of several incursions by the skilful ball-playing Russians, who were able to cut swathes through the Lazio defence with a combination of elegant dribbling and deft one-touch football, if without reward.
Neither side were able to make any headway in the second half, with Lazio risking little or nothing at the back but failing to create any clear opportunities at the other end. It was mission accomplished for Lazio, while Lokomotiv could at least walk out heads high from the tournament after proving a match for the top side in Italy on their own ground.
