Lazio secured only their third away win of the season to move four points clear of the Serie A relegation zone.

First-half goals from Tommaso Rocchi and Sergio Floccari did the trick for the capital club, who progressed to 29 points from 29 games as a result.

The hosts, on the other hand, have now claimed just one point from their last five games and dropped to 10th in the standings.

Cagliari president Massimo Cellino earlier this week promised his club's fans he would reimburse the cost of their tickets if the team failed to beat Lazio.

And it appeared evident from the early stages he could be in for a costly afternoon as Rocchi put the Romans ahead in the fourth minute. He latched onto Stefano Mauri's cross-field pass, beat Lino Marzoratti for pace and then shot low past Federico Marchetti.

The Sardinian outfit almost restored parity two minutes later when Daniele Conti threaded a through-ball for Andrea Lazzari, but his blast was straight at Fernando Muslera and the Lazio goalkeeper deflected the ball over the bar.

Andre Dias was afforded two bites of the cherry from a Cristian Ledesma corner in the 14th minute, but neither effort tested home keeper Marchetti.

Marchetti was left scrambling after 20 minutes when he came out to clear a cross and only succeeded in reaching the feet of Rocchi, whose fine lob drifted just over the bar.

Lazio continued to push for a second and might have had it just after the half hour, had Aleksandar Kolarov spotted Mauri in space instead of going alone and lashing narrowly wide.

The visitors did not have to wait too much longer to establish their two-goal cushion, however. Floccari picked up a pass from Rocchi on the edge of the area eight minutes before the break, shrugged off the attentions of Daniele Dessena and Alessandro Agostini and then fired into the top right corner.

Lazio continued in the same vein after the interval and could have made it 3-0 in the opening seconds of the second period. Mauri fed Stephan Lichtsteiner, but Agostini made the intervention just in the nick of time before he could get his shot away.

Kolarov was next to try his luck, shooting wide from five yards following Rocchi's fine long pass.

Cagliari appeared resigned to the defeat and Lazio continued to look the more likely of the teams to add to the scoring.

Rocchi almost bagged his second midway through the second half, controlling the ball on his chest and producing a low attempt which flew narrowly wide of Marchetti's left hand upright.

Marchetti had to be alert with 14 minutes remaining to keep his side only two goals down, making a brilliant triple save from a Lazio counter-attack. First he denied Floccari from long range and then twice he prevented Lichtsteiner making anything of the follow-up.

The third goal was not forthcoming but Lazio had already done enough to earn the points.