Up one man with ten minutes to go, Atalanta wanted to do its upmost to guarantee that it would not have to play an additional thirty minutes of extra time football. Well, La Dea made it happen; except no one anticipated the home side losing to prevent the match from going past minute ninety. Yes for the second time in three years Atalanta has bowed out of the Coppa Italia at the hands of Fiorentina. Interestingly in both clashes, Fiorentina was short a man when the decisive go-ahead goal was scored. This time a lucky break, eerily similar to Ronaldo’s goal in the Champion’s League, fell right to Nikola Milenkovic – sending Atalanta home in the final seconds of stoppage time.
You could feel the air sucked out of the players after Milenkovic’s game tying goal, and it is a brutal way to exit the Coppa Italia. A match in which Atalanta exhibited much more positivity, it is a shame that to final line doesn’t tell the full story of how the game turned out.
***Disclaimer: your humble writer only caught the bookends of the match, and can only base his unsubstantiated opinions off 30 minutes of action and highlights***
The woodwork is a cruel mistress, masquerading as Atalanta’s friend one minute and its enemy for the rest of the match. Both Davide Zappacosta and Jeremie Boga had nifty shots denied by the post. Zappacosta’s effort was particularly unfortunate which would have iced the match, never giving Milenkovic a chance at the end to play hero. But that’s the way matches go sometimes. It is at least a positive that Atalanta are finally looking much more threatening.
One of the main reasons the squad looked much more dangerous than the previous weekend was the emergence of Jeremie Boga. His dribble and finish was exquisite, and very Muriel-esque in how he was able to fend off a defensive challenge, keep his balance, and continue on to coolly slot home a goal. If this is a sign of things to come, sign me up, and twice on Sunday!
But it is impossible to discuss this match without the egregious penalties that Fiorentina received in this match. Fiorentina has now scored five times against Atalanta this year, and four of those came directly from a penalty or the rebound directly after a penalty save. Normally I’m not one to bellyache too much after questionable penalty decisions, but today’s decisions has me in a bit of a hissy.
Especially the first one.
Yes Marten de Roon steps on Nico Gonzalez’s ankle, undoubtedly an infringement. But is it enough to gift Fiorentina a penalty? Gonzalez was barely inside the box (like barely). He lunges INTO the box to barely get a touch on a ball that guides the ball out of the box. And on top of all of this, he had no intent of trying to move the offense forward to score with his lunging touch.
Simply because his positioning was lucky enough to inch him forward into the penalty box – Fiorentina goes from a free kick with a 10% chance of converting to one with a 75% chance of converting. In the subjective world of Italian refereeing and rulemaking it feels strange that the one black and white aspect of officiating is guaranteed penalty shouts on fouls in the box. Is there no other middle ground between stone cold penalty and no foul call that can be given in innocuous goal scoring situations? How about an indirect free kick? Just something different. It’s baffling how a team can be rewarded with an easy goal scoring opportunity when nothing in the run of play suggests that the fouled player even had intent to score.
I’m off the soapbox now! But its unfortunate that two-thirds of Atalanta’s goals conceded were a result of fouls completely against the run of play.
Atalanta Passione Man of the Match – Jeremie Boga
One start, one man of the match for the Ivorian. These are some good stats that would be well worth repeating over the next few matches. Atalanta was in desperate need for some offensive spark and Boga provided the necessary flair. Beyond his well taken goal, and his brilliant flick that struck the post, Boga was a well rounded package who was good in possession, good in the press, and the first #10 to play on the right of the pitch in over a year (too soon!) Great to see Boga shine bright early on, and hopefully its just a preview of what will hopefully come in droves.
Thursday’s exit from the Coppa Italia is unfortunate, making the start of 2022 a very forgettable stretch of time for La Dea. With January’s COVID woes, losing Zapata and Gosens, and these two early losses in February, I do not think it is unreasonable to say that Atalanta is teetering on a fine line right now. Unquantifiable momentum can come and go in an instant. Everything that has recently materialized would suggest that Atalanta has work to do its upmost to resist the urge to dive headfirst down the waterslide into unknown waters. Atalanta doesn’t falter easy, and well run teams with heady players can will teams through the murkiness. The next couple of weeks will be quite the test for Atalanta’s resolve. With Juventus on the weekend followed by a huge Europa League clash against Olympiakos, Atalanta cannot dwell on past errors and only look to what’s ahead. Thursday was evidence that the talent doesn’t disappear when one or two players leave, you just have to do enough to guarantee that luck cannot sway the outcome of a hard fought match. Let’s get Fiorentina in a few weeks, and as always Forza Dea!!!
