Oct 27 - Lazio maintained their unbeaten start to the season and moved provisionally top of the Serie A standings with a 6-2 win at Sassuolo on Tuesday in a frantic game where the hosts had a player sent off and the visitors had two penalties saved.

Gennaro Gattuso's Lazio side have eight wins from nine games and are on 25 points, three ahead of Inter Milan, who visit bottom club Venezia on Wednesday.

Lazio, backed by a sizeable away support, roared into a second-minute lead through Kenneth Taylor but the game had barely restarted following a lengthy VAR check when Kristian Thorstvedt equalised.

Lazio looked in control with quick goals from Gustav Isaksen and Romano Floriani Mussolini before Sassuolo's hopes of a comeback took a hammering just after the half-hour mark when Thorstvedt was shown a red card for a foul on Mattia Zaccagni.

Sassuolo did, however, pull a goal back two minutes from halftime through Sebastiano Esposito only to see Lazio restore their two-goal advantage in added time before the break when Zaccagni was allowed a free header from Isaksen's cross.

Zaccagni spurned a chance to score again shortly after the interval when Simone Cinquegrano's handball gave Lazio a penalty, but the captain's tame spot kick was saved by Stefano Turati.

Lazio found a fifth goal with Tijjani Noslin's curled shot from outside the box before a foul by Duje Caleta-Car on Isaksen gave the visitors another penalty, and this time Turati saved from Davide Frattesi.

Noslin again made up for Lazio's wastefulness from the spot with another strike from distance to complete the scoring as Gattuso's side continue to look like real title contenders. REUTERS