It wasn’t the prettiest effort, but Wednesday’s victory was exactly what Atalanta needed to stay afloat in Italy’s national competition and preserve resources for upcoming fixtures. A 2-0 cleansheet looks great on paper, but a much grittier performance than the scoreline indicates was required to hold off a Venezia side that was not willing to go out quietly. A quick goal from Luis Muriel in the first quarter hour set the tone for the rest of the match, permitting Atalanta to play a bit freer and easier the rest of the match. While no more goals came for La Dea until the waning moments of the match, the offense did flow nicely – still looking dangerous without the pressure of needing a goal to break the deadlock. The Aleskei Miranchuk and Matteo Pessina midfield connection was chock full of one touches and fancy dribbles. Miranchuk in particular had a field day inside the box, and even at the end of the match, when Atalanta was forced to play a bit more defense – he was key in not only winning balls back, but turning those balls won into progression and away from the danger zone.
Speaking of the defense, I got my wish and we all got to witness Giorgio Scalvini’s first senior start. It was a good, perhaps unspectacular performance, but most importantly it was mistake free. His touch was heavy and clumsy at times, but he looked positive moving forward and was often pushed further up the pitch than his right hand partner, Hans Hateboer. Most importantly, Scalvini and his defense mates were willing to hunker down and they prevented Venezia from getting off any real dangerous half chances. Atalanta did get into hoof mode at times in the second half, but the Merih Demiral led backline was so comfortable at the back, the only way Venezia could trouble Juan Musso was through a worldy of an attempt by Domen Crnigoj (that was fortunately called back, perhaps unjustly).
Matched up against Inter on Sunday, Atalanta accomplished three things with its victory on Wednesday. One – advancement in the Coppa. Two – injury free football. Three – rotation guys got good quality minutes – with everyone looking quite strong. The result wasn’t a dynamic result like last Sunday against Udinese, but it was exactly what was needed in a midweek fixture. Get in and out, with damage control being a very important plan B in conjunction with a victory. Confidence should hopefully stay high going into Sunday, as Atalanta finally looks to beat Scudetto favorites Inter for the first time in several years!
Atalanta Passione Match Ratings
Match ratings for the Coppa will be bucketed by positions – giving a grade to the unit rather than individual players.
Goalkeeper (Juan Musso): 6.5 – He nearly bottled the match for Atalanta with a horrible first touch, but he saved himself in the nick of time.
Defense: 7 – A steady performance, that combined a good combination of strong back to the goal defending as well as diffusing the counter attack. Demiral stood out the most with seven clearances, two interceptions, one tackle, and six out of seven aerial duels won.
Wingbacks: 7 – Both starters were aggressive going forward, and spurring on the offense – Pezzella was agonizingly close to a goal that clanked off the post. But the accolades go to Joakim Maehle, who was stellar in defense as well as singlehandedly creating and finishing off the second goal to seal victory.
Midfield: 7.5 – A lovely performance from the pivot, with both Remo Freuler and Teun Koopmeiners contributing to the offense in different ways (alongside aggressive defense). Koopmeiners, again, stood out and looks to find a new level each match.
Attack: 7 – Muriel, Miranchuk, and Pessina had a nice little combination going. Not a lot of clear cut chances fell to the attack, but they did manage to create an astounding 13 shots on goal from inside the box.
Atalanta Passione Man of the Match – Aleksei Miranchuk
I have no problem giving this to Teun Koopmeiners, but Aleksei Miranchuk had one of his most well rounded matches to date. His impressive offensive statistics range from four key passes, to four dribbles completed, to four long balls completed – but his 12 take-ons (duels) won out of 13 is a remarkable feat. Besides being muscled off the ball once in a dangerous position, this is the most comfortable Miranchuk has looked completing all that is required of a Gasperini midfielder (sign him up for the Selke Trophy!) Defense aside, his touch inside the box was sublime, and he was able to squeak past defenders numerous times that he had no business beating. If he continues to look like this, it makes it a much more difficult decision as to what the front office should do with him this January transfer window.
A good victory sees Atalanta take on the winner of the Napoli vs. Fiorentina winner. No doubt a tough draw for the quarterfinals, but one that Atalanta can handle. There’s a lot of time to go until then, so for now let’s keep the morale high, get everyone on the squad needed minutes, and have different rotations continue to mesh together. Even without Jeremie Boga, Atalanta has a bunch of attacks to throw at opponents – the Pessina and Miranchuk combo proved to be another potential solution to confound opponents. Let’s keep it going on three fronts, and as always Forza Dea!!!
