With Atalanta slowly losing grip with the rest of the top six fighting for European spots, Monday night was Atalanta’s opportunity to keep itself relevant with the rest of the seven sisters. A lineup featuring Mario Pasalic and Duvan Zapata as the starting attacking duo doesn’t instill much confidence, but if you squint Pasalic always seems best served as a second striker that knows how to finds the open pockets of space. But does it actually come to fruition?
First Half Reaction
Yes it does! Pasalic redeemed himself after a shaky first half of play. Pasalic misplaced one of many poor passes, and unsurprisingly there were many instances when Atalanta made it harder for themselves to work any semblance of offense. But back to the old days, Atalanta turned defense and pressing into offense, and it paid off. Its not surprising that Atalanta’s only chance came through a well worked high press by Giorgio Scalvini, and then Zapata and Pasalic linked up to finish it off.
That neat and tidy display was the best 90 seconds of football Atalanta played all half, and should be how the team continues to work going forward. Roma’s possession was often of the empty calorie variety (Atalanta’s was too, I guess), and the defense clamped down when it needed. One shot > one shot on target > one goal isn’t the best way to dictate offense, but it does the job until the next moment La Dea finds one pocket of confidence and positional dominance to try it again. Gotta keep it going, but also need to ensure that Nicola Zalewski is contained. If Roma does mount a dangerous chance, the odds are high it will come from his left wing.
Second Half Reaction
Rui Patricio made the final minutes skip by rather than slowly trickle. Boneheadedness is what we’re used to from Atalanta, but we’ll take some help from the opposition – given that the defense was still trying to do everything possible to give Roma every chance to creep by with at least a point. Jose Luis Palomino decided to go rogue defensively, leaving an acre of space for Lorenzo Pellegrini to creep through the defense. Then Marco Sportiello botches his wall set up, and Pellegrini, again, nearly snuck a second goal by him.
But fortunately, we can forget it all. Atalanta took its chances offensively, taking advantage of the few opportunities Roma gave the Bergamaschi.
The setup was still tidy in the second half, and Atalanta epitomized the bend don’t break defense when Berat Djimsiti was in the match. Funny enough, Atalanta probably doesn’t go up by two goals if Palomino doesn’t come on for Djimsiti, but then the game got wildly more interesting that led to the second and third goal for La Dea.
Nick’s Match Ratings
Marco Sportiello: 6.5
Rafael Toloi: 7
Berat Djimsiti: 7
Giorgio Scalvini: 7
Joakim Maehle: 6.5
Davide Zappacosta: 6.5
Ederson: 7.5
Marten de Roon: 7
Teun Koopmeiners: 7
Mario Pasalic: 7
Duvan Zapata: 7.5
Jose Luis Palomino: 5.5
Merih Demiral:
Rasmus Hojlund:
Nick’s Man of the Match – Duvan Zapata
It was a workman’s like performance from the Colombian, who’s exquisite footwork setup Atalanta’s first goal. His techique was then match by his power, as he worked off two Roma defenders to set up the corner that led to La Dea’s second goal. He worked Llorente tirelessly, and was the wrong side of some questionable referee foul decisions. If Zapata can continue to contribute in such a fashion, even if he doesn’t score, he can be vital down the stretch for an Atalanta team that can still be without identity on offense sometimes.
Other Match Odds and Ends
Not only is it satisfying to win, but these massive three points now give Atalanta the tiebreaker over Roma this year – knocking Roma’s four point cushion really down to three point. With Roma playing Milan next week, the table can get really spicy for the final Champion’s League spot – especially if La Dea can take this momentum to Turin.
This match went to ugly to frenetic on a dime. It oddly followed the Atalanta mold of last month when Atalanta’s victories against Empoli and Cremonese began with curses and headshakes from the Dea faithful, followed by fist pumps when the offensive firepower came on to seal three points. The only difference here was Atalanta probably had more intent to make the game ugly in the first half (both teams had <77% pass percentage in the first half). Then Mario Pasalic comes through with a banger of a volley, and it lets La Dea dictate tempo that much more. There was no need for Atalanta to sacrifice any defensive position to create opportunities, weirdly giving the team flexibility to pick and choose the correct moments to mount attacks and look for the two goal cushion.
The only time Atalanta truly screwed up its positioning was when Gasperini went to a crazy four centerback setup, thus giving Palomino the false sense that he could do whatever he wanted on the pitch. Its almost as if Gasperini is slowly converging with his disciple we’ll see next week, in what could be an absolutely brutal match to watch. Still, I’m here for it if it means potential points!
Great win, and as always, Forza Dea!
