Let’s get one thing out of the way – Joakim Maehle getting sent off early was a ridiculously hasty decision by Matteo Marcerano. If not for his poor handling of the offsides debacle in the Juventus Salernitana match in the autumn, his straight red call on Maehle’s ball-winning – maybe a little bit reckless – tackle on Domenico Berardi would have kept him up all night. But given he’s used to making unjustifiable decisions, I’m sure he got his eight hours.
The call changed Atalanta’s game plan, and it was ultimately the squad’s demise. Playing a man down for 60 minutes, the defense fought valiantly, but a bender from Armand Lauriente was enough to give Sassuolo its second straight victory. The boys were close to sneaking one by Andrea Consigli in the second half, which is interestingly more than you can say about the offensive production in the half hour before Maehle got expelled.
Conspicuously absent was an attack void of the front three that has propelled Atalanta to new offensive heights in 2023. Rasmus Hojlund, Ademola Lookman, and Jeremie Boga all took the pitch, but it was never at the same time. A starting lineup with both Ederson and Teun Koopmeiners sharing duty as an attacking midfielder just didn’t have the same punch. So while the red card expulsion stuck the dagger in Atalanta, the squad was already trudging through the match, making it a bit more difficult to yearn for what could have been with some better officiating.
Two games in a row without scoring (Coppa Italia included) feels like an eternity for this new offense. With a five game stretch incoming that includes squaring off against the likes of Lazio, Udinese, Napoli, and Milan – Gian Piero Gasperini has to quickly put this one in the rear-view mirror and stick with a lineup he knows can work.
Three Match Takeaways
One- Jeremie Boga entered the pitch in a difficult position to effectively contribute; but he still did. He was the only offensive outlet and also was on the end of Atalanta’s best chance that he somehow put completely wide of goal. The larger story here is that the offense is now clicking when Boga is on the pitch. For as good as Ademola Lookman is, he doesn’t have the ball control and dribbling technique Boga has. Boga’s mere presence facilitates and makes life easier for the rest of the squad. Why Gasperini was reticent to start all of Lookman, Boga, and Hojlund is beyond me. As a comparison, I’d say there’s a 0% chance that Mattia Zaccagni, Felipe Anderson, and Ciro Immobile don’t all start for Maurizio Sarri next week. Can the same be said for Lookman, Boga, and Hojlund?
Two- This was the second consecutive match that Atalanta was pressed well by opposition, with far too much passing occurring between the defense DEEP in its own territory. Its probably not surprising that Inter could press Atalanta as such, but Sassuolo still kept up the trend in the first 30 minutes of the first half. La Dea did have some success getting out of its pinned area; Ederson found some soft spots and was able to dash forward. But again, I think Boga would have helped out immensely. One or two dangerous carries likely has Alesiso Dionisi adjusting to a more measured approach.
Three- Berat Djimsiti played good enough in the middle of the defense, but he doesn’t have the aggressive bite required as the center of the trio. Both Merih Demiral and Jose Palomino would have taken out Gregoire Defrel with the trash, but the Frenchman was able to link up far too easily with his wing pairing. I like Djimsiti, but still much prefer him on the left or sometimes the right side.
Nick’s Match Ratings
Juan Musso: 7 – Some nifty saves helped keep Atalanta in the match until the end. 1.56 expected goals on target faced versus 1 goal conceded helps him in the metrics too.
Rafael Toloi: 6.5
Berat Djimsiti: 6.5
Giorgio Scalvini: 7 – Its still hard to remember he’s 19. The poise he demonstrates should have us all fortunate to have him for as long as we’re able to hold him.
Hans Hateboer: 5.5 – Atalanta may have been able to hold off for a heroic goalless draw if Hateboer was able to put Lauriente onto his left foot.
Joakim Maehle: 5 – The red card is a huge stain on his ledger, but the Dane actually had some decent runs going forward. All we can hope is that his confidence remains high after this little debacle.
Ederson: 6 – He didn’t play long enough to really justify a rating, but he becomes the unfortunate one to blame that prevented us from seeing the Trident.
Marten de Roon: 6.5
Teun Koopmeiners: 6.5
Ademola Lookman: 6 – Synergy isn’t just a business word, and he definitely is supercharged when Boga can control the playmaking. Today was unfortunately not that day for him.
Rasmus Hojlund: 5.5
Matteo Ruggeri: 6
Jeremie Boga: 7
Duvan Zapata: 6
Mario Pasalic: 5.5 – Poor Pasalic feels like a man without a position now. He never seems to gel with what the rest of the offense is doing now.
Luis Muriel: 5 – Lest we forget Lucho’s red card for choice words at the end of the match.
Nick’s Man of the Match – Juan Musso
I find it tough to give it to anyone else given the state of the match. He did his upmost to keep it within the offense’s reach with a variety of nice reaction saves. His distribution still leaves a lot to be desired, but with his recent good form, the pipes are feeling a bit safer these days.
Gian Piero Gasperini refused to speak to the media this weekend (shocker), but Atalanta’s Director Umberto Marino still had some nice and biting words that seemed to come right from Gasperini’s mouth after being fed through a diplomacy filter. Now I’m not one to buy into anti-Atalanta refereeing scheme, but I can agree with Marino’s comments on consistency with the officiating.
If the clubs are confused, then certainly us fans are as well. Not like we matter, in the sporting sense, but the theatrics of league reaches the point of laughability at times.
Berardi writhing in agony is an all too common occurrence in Serie A. Not just Berardi (but he’s an obvious one to point out), but every teams seems to have one or two guys that live purely to overreact to mild to mid contact on the pitch. The theatrics and the soft refereeing being in cahoots amplifies the acting and rewards it, and it gets far too tiring at times.
I won’t hold my breath that anything changes sometime soon (sometimes going over to watch a Bundesliga match is a breath of fresh air), but airing grievances helps with the sanity! Let’s hope we don’t have to do it a whole lot more this year, and we’ll fight to live another day next week. As always, Forza Dea!
