Bari struck twice in the second half to sink relegation-threatened Lazio.

Sergio Almiron put the visitors on their way to victory in the 51st minute after Lazio wasted a hatful of chances to break the deadlock in the opening half.

Edgar Alvarez doubled the visitors' lead shortly after the hour mark.

Lazio midfielder Aleksandar Kolarov should have reduced the arrears in the 77th minute but saw his
penalty saved by Bari goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet.

The outcome has lifted Bari, who gained promotion to the top flight last summer, to 11th in the standings, 14 points clear of the drop zone with 10 games remaining.

The result is a further blow for Lazio, whose fans were so frustrated that they boycotted the club's previous home game.

They have now claimed just one point in the last four matches and are just points clear of third-bottom Livorno.

Lazio played with a real sense of urgency in the first half of today's game at the Stadio Olimpico, and dominated possession.

Yet they were limited to long-range shooting thanks to Bari's well-organised defence.

Cristian Ledesma struck high and wide from 30 yards while shortly after, Fabio Firmani failed to get power on his long-range effort that went wide.

Midway through the first half, Cristian Brocchi latched onto Kolarov's cross and his volley from the edge of the area went into the stands.

Brocchi should have put the Romans in front in the 32nd minute.

He got past his marker and surged into the area but his right-footed strike went wide of Gillet's far post.

Lazio continued to press forward but Edy Reja's men lacked ideas up front.

Ledesma wasted a good opportunity to serve a team-mate inside the area as he tried his luck from distance.

His bullet strike was wide, leading to a cacophony of boos from the home fans.

On the stroke of half-time, Gillet punched away Thomas Hitzlsperger's shot from the edge of the area.

Lazio picked up where they left off after the re-start and Kolarov's right-footed strike was met by a fine save from Gillet.

Just when Lazio looked to be gaining confidence, Bari opened the scoring with their first opportunity of the game.

Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera failed to clear Alvarez's free-kick and Almiron tapped the ball into the back of the net.

The hosts should have levelled the score on the hour mark.

Tommaso Rocchi fed Sergio Floccari inside the area and his right-footed shot was saved by Gillet.

In the 64th minute, Bari hit the back of the net again.

A fast counter-attack by the visitors saw Riccardo Meggiorini pick out Alvarez inside the area and his strike towards the top left corner beat Muslera.

Lazio had a chance to reduce the deficit with 14 minutes remaining after Massimo Donati brought down substitute Julio Cruz inside the area.

Gillet guessed Kolarov's intentions, however, and parried away the penalty-kick towards the bottom right corner.

With seven minutes remaining, Gillet made a fine save to deny Cruz's close-range header from Brocchi's cross.

But Bari held on for their first win on the road since October 18.