Atalanta may have had the lion’s share of possession against Lazio, but the boys saved their goal scoring boots for the final moments of both halves. Coming back to draw twice in the match, Atalanta was able to survive against a top 7 foe with two moments of brilliance helping La Dea salvage a point. Duvan Zapata made mince meat of Adam Marusic in a fantastic individual effort to beat Pepe Reina far post on an improbable angle. But more importantly was Marten de Roon’s dramatic 94th minute one time shot off a Merih Demiral flick that ultimately saved the day for the Bergamaschi.
How the match unfolded should make Atalanta fans happy with a point, but Atalanta’s overall dominance in the middle of the pitch may have some asking for more. In fact, both of Lazio’s goals came on unforced errors, and the slim margin for error permitted by Atalanta’s defensive setup stung hard on Saturday. The trio of Demiral, de Roon, and Remo Freuler all played excellent games, but it was the one time they all failed that hit the hardest. Against a Lazio team that is ruthless on the counter attack, unforced errors will be a team’s demise. Atalanta knows this all too well, and the no nonsense players on the squad (already mentioned) must ensure that the communication and concentration gets tidied up.
Regardless of how the goals were conceded, Atalanta can still be happy earning a point. With Palomino, Toloi, and Djimsiti still absent – the defensive options continue to be thin – and Atalanta can take pride that Immobile and the offense could not create organically, plus the duo of Sergej Milinkovic Savic and Luis Alberto was silenced. The reprieve is in sight for Atalanta, and it cannot be ignored how well the guys have traversed this tough stretch of games.
Atalanta Passione’s Match Ratings
Juan Musso- 6.5: Not much he could do on either goal, but his distribution was the best it’s been so far this season.
Matteo Lovato- 6.5: A good defensive performance, but he is not decisive in his passing yet – he continues to dwell too long on the ball.
Merih Demiral- 6.5: His flick set up de Roon’s goal, but his whiff in the first half was disappointing. Good defensive game nonetheless besides his error.
Marten De Roon- 7: A brilliant goal, and very good work at centerback. Who knows what happened between him and Freuler on the exchange that led to Immobile’s goal, but that was weak.
Davide Zappacosta- 6: Not his best match, but no grave errors on his end.
Joakim Maehle- 7: Probably his best match of the season. He was energetic moving forward, and was even solid defensively. Not a chirp was heard from Felipe Anderson all day.
Remo Freuler- 6.5: The goal exchange docks him a bit, but he was very good controlling the middle of the pitch.
Teun Koopeiners- 7: Just like Freuler, he bossed the midfield and silenced SMS.
Josip Ilicic- 6.5: A good, not great, Ilicic performance that was a heavy touch away from a moment of brilliance.
Mario Pasalic- 6: He was not as lively on Saturday, and may have fatigue catching up to him with all his recent consecutive starts.
Duvan Zapata- 7: Again he comes through with a hustle play for a brilliant goal. He’s made an argument for being one of the Top 3 strikers in Serie A.
Ruslan Malinovskyi- 6.5: His cross helped to set up the final goal, but didn’t have too much influence beyond that.
Giorgio Scalvini- 6: The youngster got exposed on the second goal, but a steady performance for the 17 year old.
Luis Muriel- 6: Lucho has not found his rhythm yet, and pulled a shot wide that he normally converts.
Roberto Piccoli- s/v: Not enough time on the pitch for the youngster.
Atalanta Passione’s Man of the Match- Marten de Roon
The hero of the moment, Marten de Roon redeemed himself for his earlier error – scoring his obligatory goal for the season in one of the most important moments of the early season. Beyond his goal, de Roon’s brilliant work filling in at centerback has helped Atalanta to weather this injury storm much more comfortably than anticipated. Saturday was probably his best performance in defense, with next to no action coming through his side. Its tough to stop the lively Felipe Anderson, but as mentioned above, his name was barely mentioned.
Getting de Roon back in the midfield would be good news, given there’s more options at centerback, but in a pinch Gasperini can at least have the confidence that de Roon is a capable fill-in.
Other Atalanta/Lazio Odds and Ends
As mentioned above Duvan Zapata has to be one of the top 3 strikers in Serie A, most likely along with Immobile and Osimhen (sorry Vlahovic). Immobile may have the finishing prowess, but no other striker in the league has as much impact while on the ball far away from goal as Osimhen and Zapata. Osimhen is more of a speed play, but Zapata will muscle pretty much any defenseman off the ball.
Luiz Felipe loves going for the slide tackle, and hopefully notes were taken on that for the return leg. Zapata rinsed him on one play near the goal line, and next time around getting Ilicic and Luiz in some one on one isolation battles could pay huge dividends for Atalanta.
Juan Musso’s distribution was brilliant on Saturday, and hopefully this can become the standard for him. Maybe not the standard, just because he was so good against Lazio. Musso completed 22 of his 23 passes, included 7 out of 8 long balls (all in the rain)! This is worth keeping an eye on to see if he continues to confidently ping long balls.
With Juventus losing, Atalanta continues to pave its own path in the march for European spots. The season has been a difficult and challenging slog up until this point, but the boys have held firm and earned points in some challenging ways. The Lazio match was no different, and mental toughness will continue to guide Atalanta to points, at least until the offense starts coming up hot. A final minute goal to earn points has to be a great mental boost for the midweek challenging against Manchester United. The boys should be out for blood, and if the errors get cleaned up, we’ll have a firecracker of a game on our hands! As always, Forza Dea!!
