Simone Inzaghi takes over at Lazio after Stefano Pioli sacking

Simone Inzaghi has been appointed as Lazio head coach after Stefano Pioli was sacked following Sunday's derby defeat to Roma.

Pioli was dismissed after overseeing a 4-1 loss to Lazio's fiercest rivals, who are 18 points better off in Serie A and pushing Napoli for second place while the Eagles languish down in eighth.

Almost three hours after full-time at the Stadio Olimpico, Lazio released a statement which said Inzaghi, who was on the club's books as a player for over a decade, had been placed in charge.

Pioli, who previously coached Parma, Chievo, Palermo and Bologna, was a surprise replacement for Edy Reja in the summer of 2014, but led Lazio to a third-placed finish at the first time of asking.

Success proved harder to come by this season, however, and a run of five defeats from seven games in the autumn cast serious doubt over his ability to continue in the role.

Lazio rallied to go unbeaten for seven games, but league results dipped again, while Sparta Prague dumped the Romans out of the Europa League's last 16 by winning 3-0 in the capital city in March.

Inzaghi, the younger brother of former Italy and AC Milan striker Filippo, had been coaching Lazio's youth teams before taking the first-team reins for the final seven games of the 2015-16 campaign.