As has been normal for Atalanta this year, proceedings at a high level never look easy; but the results still have been undeniable. The same story rings true Monday night in Monza after Atalanta dispatched its Lombardian rivals 2-0 – simultaneously going top of the table in Serie A. Again it was a tale of two halves for La Dea, but fortunately Atalanta has been excellent at navigating its uneven first half of play before breaking out for the second round of 45 minutes.
However in each match, Gasperini’s squad seems to be making small incremental improvements. Atalanta finally had its counterattack on target, and found perhaps the best offensive formation to date, and a neat and swiftly work ball progression that started deep with Malinovskyi and ending with Rasmus Hojlund was one of the best worked Atalanta goals in some months. But Atalanta wasn’t done sconring. Atalanta was able to ice the game with a vicious shoulder deke from Ederson who exquisitely passed it on to Ademola Lookman who effectively clanked it off Marlon for Atalanta’s second goal.
The attack in the second half was great. Atalanta was able to force Monza into numerous errors and was able to quickly turns its newfound possession into deep runs inside Monza’s zone. A three man attack with Ederson and Lookman supporting Hojlund, and then with Malinovskyi sitting just a bit further back, looked legitimate. Combine that with a stellar defense that has now earned a clean sheet in 60% of its matches, and Gasperini looks to be cooking. And of course being at the top of the Serie A table confirms Atalanta’s current blend of tactics plus player execution. Monza could have been an easy trap game, but the boys weathered the storm well, and now get to sit back while the rest of Serie A’s big guns go on their European adventures.
Atalanta Passione’s Match Ratings
Juan Musso: 7 – Proceedings were very dicey in the first five minutes of the match, but two great reaction saves from the Argentine ensured that Atalanta wouldn’t concede on Monday.
Rafael Toloi: 7.5 – An early blunder forced Musso into heroics, but from then on out he was close to perfect.
Merih Demiral: 7.5 – Another fantastic match form the Turk. I was a bit disappointed in some of his aerial technique against the smaller Gianluca Caprari, but I’m just picking nits at this point.
Hans Hateboer: 6.5 – The Dutchman got a surprising start and played a steady if unspectacular game.
Davide Zappacosta: 6 – Only 45 minutes again for the Italian coming off an offseason injury. He’s still ramping into form, but like his wingman – he was unspectacular.
Marten de Roon: 6.5 – The Dutchman has become the king of holding serve in the midfield. While he looks a step off the pace at times, he still is a dependable presence in the middle.
Teun Koopmeiners: 7 – Ever since his goal against Verona, he’s stepped up his game, and makes things happen wherever he is on the pitch.
Ederson: 7 – The Brazilian is still finding out who he is within the club, but his brilliant skill and blazing speed help set up the second goal.
Ruslan Malinovskyi: 7 – Atalanta immediately began to play better once the Ukrainian slotted centrally and a little deeper. Hopefully this is a position where Gasperini continues to use him.
Ademola Lookman: 7.5 – His adept dribbling set up Atalanta’s first goal, and for all intents and purposes the second goal was his. He looks to have found a home on the left side of the attack.
Rasmus Hojlund: 7 – His goal was a striker’s goal. If Atalanta is going to continue its counterattacking ways, having Holjund running the spaces will be instrumental to the team’s success.
Brandon Soppy: 7.5 – The match changed when he came on. His hockey assist set up the first goal, while his continuous dangerous presence in attack kept Monza’s attack more at bay.
Mario Pasalic: 6.5 – His duty was to see the match out, and he did exactly what he was supposed to. No errant touches and smart passes to continue recycling possession.
Giorgio Scalvini: 6.5 – The Scalvini midfield project is in full force, and besides a stupid yellow card its great having his lanky body disrupting everything in sight – doesn’t matter if its in the attacking box or his own defensive box.
Joakim Maehle: 6 – Is still wasteful at times, but still knows how to break forward when needed.
Jeremie Boga: n/a
Atalanta Passione Man of the Match: Ademola Lookman
Two MOTM in five matches is a great return for the new signing. While Serie A may not reward him for a goal in this match, his game was more than just his work in creating and taking shots. He completed three of his four dribbles, and has a knack for creating chances out of pretty terrible starting positions. Most importantly he didn’t give the ball away to start dangerous counterattacks, and a pristine 93% pass completion percentage ensured that his teammates wouldn’t either.
Other Match Odds and Ends
Monza xG: 0.70 | Atalanta xG: 1.95 – Interestingly FotMob has Monza at 1.31 xG, but if you count all their chances, it only sums to 0.70 xG. 1.31 xG feels a bit generous to Monza, given that the Matteo Pessina captained side had next to no dangerous chances in the second half. Monza’s best chance in the first minute registered a 0.26 xG, but Caprari’s shot placement converted into a 87% chance. So thanks to Juan Musso for the heroics.
Back to the dominant second half, Monza had the ball for 64% of the half, but was only able to convert that into four shots. The most dangerous being Andrea Petagna’s looping rainbow from close to the penalty box. It was a perfect display of bend-don’t-break defense that can be nerve-wracking to watch, but is mightily effective when executed properly.
Atalanta again lost the possession battle, but a more appropriate phrasing of it may be: ‘Atalanta permitted Monza to hold onto the ball.’ Now, this definitely looks to be a counterattacking Atalanta side. Lookman and Soppy could be a lethal duo once they start to get more familiar with one another.
Speaking of the counter attack, for Atalanta’s first goal it took seven seconds for Malinovskyi to ping a pass to Soppy, who unleashed Lookman on a sprint, who then found Hojlund with a wide open net to put the ball home. This was a perfect counterattack goal that should be the blueprint for Atalanta going forward. Notice that this all comes to fruition with Malinovskyi playing centrally and deeper!
I’m surprised I failed to mention until now that Atalanta took the field with a back four in this match. It got weird in the end when Maehle came on, but it was a clear two centerback approach for 70 minutes. Toloi and Demiral were close to flawless, and should be more confirmation that a back four strategy makes sense as it permits offensive weapons to break forward and still clog up the midfield when necessary.
Thanks to the good research of the Atalantini faithful on Twitter, it has been unearthed that La Dea haven’t been first place in the Serie A table since 1964. For those bad at math, that’s 58 years ago! What a place for the squad to be after five matches, and an uphill struggle to start the year. It looks like the boys are starting to acclimate to the new style of Gasp-ball, and the results are encouraging. I’ll admit it feels weird still clenching with nerves for 25 minutes when already up by two goals against the team sitting bottom of the table, but I’ll gladly take a full allotment of points if it that’s the only payment I need to make. We probably won’t (most definitely won’t) be top of the table all year, so let’s enjoy this great start, enjoy the view from the top, and reap the benefits of actually starting a year off strong! As always, Forza Dea!!!
