The Sarri era finally takes flight as Lazio seize moment for derby delight | Nicky Bandini

Maurizio Sarri has made a slower start to life in Rome than Mourinho but his team’s fast start left Roma unable to catch up

Maurizio Sarri looked at the eagle perched on his wrist and started to laugh. Olimpia, Lazio’s club mascot of the past 11 years, is quite a presence up close: a 12kg bird of prey with a two-and-a-half-metre wingspan. He realised quickly that one arm wasn’t going to manage it, bringing across the other one to support her weight and glancing up toward the Curva. Thousands of fans were packed in there, lost in delirious celebration.

OK, so maybe the Rome derby was a bigger deal than Sangiovannese v Montevarchi after all.