Middlesbrough enjoyed a night of UEFA Cup glory before a near sell-out 33,991 crowd at the Riverside Stadium.
The Carling Cup winners outplayed their Italian visitors to earn a tremendous ovation at the final whistle and are now virtually into the knockout stage of the tournament.
Boro gave a brilliant display of fast flowing football and on scoring chances could easily have trebled their goal tally.
It was a very sporting game, with only four free-kicks in the opening 45 minutes, and a night to remember for jubilant Middlesbrough fans.
Dutch international Boudewijn Zenden followed up his match-winning goal at Charlton Athletic by putting the Boro ahead after 16 minutes.
When Lazio failed to clear Zenden left Fabrizio Casazza helpless with a brilliant left-foot shot from 20 yards.
Middlesbrough piled on pressure as they gained in confidence and it was amazing that they failed to increase their lead before half-time.
Stewart Downing and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink were among the forwards who were just wide with powerful shots.
Lazio skipper Fernando Couto was a stalwart in defence as Middlesbrough continued to dominate play.
The question at the interval was whether the home side could keep up the pace or would they be punished for missing their first-half chances.
Downing cut in from the left to fire a fierce shot just over the bar before Zenden confirmed Middlesbrough's superiority.
Downing provided a cross from the right and Zenden supplied the finish with a far-post header.
Mark Viduka headed over the bar for the Teessiders who substituted Hasselbaink for Joseph-Desire Job in the closing stages.
Local boy Downing shared man-of-the-match honours with Zenden. The Dutchman may have contributed the vital goals but Downing was outstanding with his pace and skill on the left-wing.
Should Downing maintain this form it may not be long before England look to him to solve a problem position.