It’s nice to have a laugher everyone now and then – this games absolutely classifies as such. It was a bit shaky in the early going, but Atalanta supremely settled down after Muriel’s cheeky backheel to Malinovskyi who was on the end of the spectacular setup. The fear that Atalanta would go deja vu all over again after being up two nil at halftime was quickly dispelled with Jerdy Schouten’s straight red after gashing Cristian Romero’s knee. And then the floodgates opened. Three second half goals had Atalanta on autopilot in the 2nd half and in an incredibly comfortable table position, after Juventus dropped points to Fiorentina. If Milan does not win on Monday, 2nd place is firmly Atalanta’s.
While the offense obviously stole all of the highlights, the defense deserves remarkable credit for helping Atalanta ride the early storm. The game was actually quite even in the early minutes, and Bologna had two good opportunities to score that required the efforts of Gollini. Romero and company fantastically calmed the storm and built the offensive bridge Atalanta needed to dominate the game from minute 20 onward.
Romero was his usual aggressive self giving Palacio and Barrow a load to handle, and Maehle performed admirably enough on the left hand side. While he “can” play on the left, I think he really needs to focus on the right hand side where he looks much more comfortable. But it gets tough when one of Atalanta’s staples – who was missing for three months – finally returns to the hold. Yes Hateboer is back! And while he wasn’t great in his return, its nice to see him get 90 minutes, shake off the dust, and be lively in the offense. He misplaced one extremely dangerous pass early on, but overall he looked like he was back to his usual durable self – plus he looks more jacked!
Offensively I don’t think there’s anything to say that the scoreline doesn’t already show. Five goals from five different players in unreal. But the first goal of the year – provided nothing crazy happens in the last six matches has to be the Atalanta goal of the year. The relationship between Malinovskyi and Muriel is tantalizing, and both seem to bring out the best in each other. It’s hard to find more to say about Malinovskyi this year, but everything has finally clicked since May – and if anyone wasn’t positive if he’s pushed Ilicic down the pecking order, I urge you to think again.
With five matches to in the league, no matches are easy. Sassuolo has been playing well recently, Genoa always seems to give Atalanta problems, Benevento are in a relegation scrap, Parma is ehhh, and Milan will be in a dogfight for Champion’s League places. Literally the best thing Atalanta can do for itself is get all of the dirty work done before the Coppa Italia, and let Milan, Juventus, Napoli, and Lazio duke it out for the UCL. The Roma game worried me that Atalanta could be due for a little lull in form, but Bologna proved the club is clicking as good as it has this year. A 5-0 statement win is just what the doctor ordered to put huge pressure on the rest of the left side of the table and continue to play loose and free flowing. The job’s not done yet, so let’s keep it going one game of the time and stay focused on a dormant and dangerous Sassuolo club. As always Forza Dea!
