With time running out to make a push towards the top six, Serie A’s eighth and ninth-placed teams largely cancelled each other out in the first half. Lazio dominated possession in the early exchanges, but Adam Marusic could only toe-poke the ball straight at Federico Ravaglia after creating space in the box, and Bologna grew into the game after a slow opening period.
Indeed, they came closest to breaking the deadlock on 20 minutes from a seemingly innocuous situation, as Nikola Moro picked the ball up 30 yards from goal, but he unleashed a thunderbolt that smacked the connection between bar and post with Edoardo Motta well-beaten.
As the half wore on, Lazio’s best openings came from counterattacking moments, with Marusic acting as the main threat on the right. He had another good chance as he broke clear and could’ve picked out Daniel Maldini in the box, but he appeared to be caught in two minds as his cross-cum-shot drifted just over the bar.
The home side were given a golden chance to strike just after the restart, after a loose pass from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru gifted possession to Santiago Castro.
The Argentinian striker was wiped out by Motta in the box, but the Lazio keeper immediately redeemed himself by diving low to his right to deny Riccardo Orsolini from the resultant spot-kick.
That save proved to be a critical moment in the game, as it appeared to deflate the home crowd and allowed the visitors to create some attacking momentum of their own.
Going into the final 20 minutes, a stalemate felt almost inevitable, but it was broken thanks to two moments of class from Taylor. He grabbed the opener on 72 minutes as he kept his cool in the area to find the bottom corner.
Bologna were stunned, and Taylor struck again 10 minutes later, when he took the ball around Ravaglia before slotting the ball into the empty net.
The result means Lazio are now on a three-game winning streak and move within eight points of the top six, whilst they also move one point and one position above Bologna, who drop to ninth.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kenneth Taylor (Lazio)
