Bergamo (Italy), Dec 18 (IANS): Lazio are without a victory in their last five matches after losing 1-0 to Atalanta in a Serie A contest where the video assistant referee (VAR) played a decisive role.

The Roman side, who came into the match in Bergamo on the back of four consecutive draws, found themselves trailing in the 1st minute after conceding a goal to Atalanta's Duvan Zapata on Monday night.

It was the Colombian's fifth goal in three games for the Bergamo club, reports Efe news.

Lazio grew more comfortable as the first half wore on and came close to equalizing on two separate occasions as Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic forced saves from home goalkeeper Etrit Berisha.

The visitors continued to press in the second half and appeared to pull level with Francesco Acerbi's goal in stoppage time. But VAR showed that he was offside and the marker was disallowed.

Lazio, with 25 points from 16 matches, are fifth in Serie A, a point behind AC Milan, who have a game in hand, and one ahead of Atalanta.