While Atalanta looked to get on track offensively, it at least had a sturdy defense to fall back on to remain competitive. However, on Sunday Atalanta brought neither a potent offensive attack nor a strong defense, suffering defeat at the hands of Milan 3-2. The score line doesn’t indicate how the match played out, with Atalanta scoring two goals late in garbage time.
The name of the game was individual errors, starting as soon as the 30th second of the match. It’s still puzzling how Davide Calabria was able to get such a clear chance at goal in the first minute, but even more confusing was Juan Musso’s measly effort to parry the ball away to safety. The whole set of events leading to Calabria’s goal put Atalanta on the back foot the entire match, which ended up being far to big a hole for Atalanta to dig out of.
That’s not to say Atalanta didn’t have its chances to equalize. Handy goalkeeping by Mike Maignan prevented Atalanta from scoring on multiple opportunities in the first half – most notably his excellent save on Davide Zappacosta’s cracking left footed shot that was destined for the bottom corner. Maignan’s saves were just the beginning of Atalanta being on the wrong side of fortune. On top of not finding the net in the first half, Matteo Pessina went off injured in the first half – after a Tomori tackle that was inches from a penalty, and an egregious Remo Freuler error led to Milan’s second goal. The match was pretty much iced after Sandro Tonali capitalized on Freuler’s mistake, and Stefano Pioli’s side was able to see out victory.
Somehow Atalanta have still managed to stay in seventh place in the league, and can do with a much needed break. Unfortunately, the international break won’t give many Dea players a whole lot of rest.
The problems when half of your team is of the international variety.
Until Atalanta visits Empoli in a few weeks time, the players will have plenty to reflect on.
Other Match Odds and Ends
Pessina’s injury was unfortunate, but even more puzzling was Giuseppe Pezzella coming into replace the attacking midfielder. This has not been the first time Gasperini opted to use a wingback in an attacking role, and its more confusing that the gaffer opted for wingback support with Miranchuk, Ilicic, Pasalic, and Muriel all on the bench. It stings even more given that Pezzella was out of his element on the wing, but hopefully it doesn’t become a trend that Gasperini neglects the attackers at his disposal.
Atalanta has yet to score from a set piece this year. With the weapons Atalanta has at its disposal this is surprising – and its probably just the law of averages playing against La Dea right now. Against Milan, Atalanta had at a minimum 11 opportunities from set pieces (including corners) and wasn’t able to convert on any of these chances. Zapata and Malinovskyi were close, but it feels like a set piece could go a really long way to igniting the offense.
Davide Zappacosta continues to impress, and it would have been nice to see more offense flow through him. Everyone knows Theo Hernandez’s defensive deficiencies, and even in the second half with Ilicic on the field, Giuseppe Pezzella was seeing far too much of the ball on the left side of the pitch.
Luis Muriel was playing way too far back on the pitch. He was consistently receiving the ball on the wrong side of the midfield line, and he was being frequently isolated on the left wing ala Jeremie Boga. Muriel is his best when he’s mixing it up with the attacking midfielders in and around the box, and he cannot be successful until he begins getting in those positions.
Duván Zapata almost willed Atalanta back into the game. His insistence on taking the penalty plus his hustle throughout stoppage time is fantastic to see. Fire in the belly is one thing that Atalanta doesn’t exude in spades, so hopefully Zapata can continue to be the vocal figurehead on the pitch.
Man of the Match: Duván Zapata
As previously mentioned, Zapata has displayed the most energy out of anyone on the club so far this year. Amid all the difficulty in creating offense this year, no one in his right mind can point any blame at Zapata for trying to get the attack on track. Beyond his converted penalty and his assist, Zapata was almost good for two more goals in the first half, and went toe to toe with Simon Kjaer in a physical grudge match that saw Zapata win his fair share of fifty fifty balls.
Zapata continues to be isolated up front in his line leading duties, and his effort cannot be understated. It is now the second match in a row that he continued through on a play that seemed dead in the water, and set up a teammate for a goal. The Colombian now sits on 99 career Serie A goals, and will be good for #100 sooner rather than later.
Stefano Pioli today demonstrated why his team is comfortably in the top 4 without a world beating lineup. Everything starts with fortification at the back, and builds up from there. Maignan, Kjaer, Tomori, Calabria, and Kessie ensure that the defense bends but doesn’t break and then hits when the chance presents itself. It is also what currently separates Milan from Atalanta. A little bit of the ‘heartbreak kids’ is starting to creep back into the Atalanta side, perfectly embodied today by Musso and Freuler’s errors.
It’s easy to say “clean up the errors and good things will happen,” but its happening a bit to frequently for Atalanta now. Its now two Serie A games in a row with grave errors iether leadinr or nearly leading to disaster. As stacked as the top of the league is this year, Atalanta’s focus has to be on point 100% of the time to continue competing for a top four place. Today was the maximum embodiment of how the season’s played out so far – maybe this is the kick in the pants the club needs to find its mojo. Unfortunately, it’ll be two weeks before we get to find out, but until then – enjoy the international break and Forza Dea!
