Atalanta were quickly able to put Wednesday’s debacle in the rearview mirror and came out punching against a Sampdoria club capable of stunning larger opponents on its day. Atalanta found out the hard way last time out what Sampdoria can do on the counter, but this time around La Dea played a much cleaner and tidy match to put away any doubts that the Genoese had any business hanging around. Now with another three points in the bank – and a Roma loss – Atalanta firmly sit in the Top 4, with a strong chance to further cement its place in the Champion’s League place against Crotone midweek.
After a shaky start to the game – in which Sampdoria made great headways getting shots on target against Sportiello (great saves for him BTW!) – Atalanta evaded any major damage and was able to fully dictate the match after about thirty minutes. There was some tinkering going on at the back, with Palomino playing in the center, Toloi on the left, and Romero on the right – which nearly set up a Sampdoria goal on a silver platter after a horrible Palomino mistimed pass in the middle of the pitch.
Yet the backline was able to resist pressure, and put in a much more comfortable setup – which saw Romero move back to the center with Toloi and Palomino on their comfortable right and left sides. Not enough can be said about Romero who completely bossed the game defensively, sniffing out nearly every opportunity that came his way. La Gumina and Quagliarella barely had looks at the goal, and Romero continues to make intelligent and brave decisions that makes Atalanta so effective in the back. Atalanta has only lost one Serie A match that Romero has played in (his disaster against Napoli), and he continues to be worth his weight in gold.
Offensively it was quite a shocker to see a starting attack of Pasalic-Malinovskyi-Muriel, but encouraging for some men to get an opportunity to make their mark. I thought it would be the perfect chance for Pasalic to demonstrate his worth in the Pessina role, but it became quickly evident he was not up to the task. He barely asked for the ball, looked late in pressing his opponents, and overall lacked intensity. Fortunately for him and the attack, Malinovskyi showed up today in a big way. After he settled down after a shaky first 15 minutes, he was fantastic in opening up play and leading attacks with some elegant touches. His goal was the icing on the cake, after a well worked one-two with Muriel, and probably gave him much needed confidence after not having scored in league since December. If we continue to keep getting this Malinovskyi – and not the one who dives looking for fouls and enjoys writhing in agony – it’ll be excellent support for Ilicic and give Gasperini an essential rotation option. Malinovskyi has proven to be mercurial this year, so hopefully his consistency can level out.
As the title suggests, the victory was extremely professional and mature, especially with direct rivals dropping questionable points. After losing in heartbreaking fashion against Madrid – probably tired and slightly mentally defeated – the men came through in convincingly to right the wrong from earlier in the year to knock off the club that beat them in convincing fashion earlier in the year. From Romero, to a hardworking midfield, and an awesome Maehle/Gosens connection (should have happened twice!), each player did their job well, and made absolutely certain that Sampdoria couldn’t squeeze back into the match. Encouraging signs with a trap game midweek, and an enormous match against Inter in a week’s time. But for now the Top 4 is ours, let’s try to make it permanent. As always, Forza Dea!!!
