On the 2020-2021 Serie A TIM 2020-2021 matchday 27, Atalanta win 3-1 over Spezia. At the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, the outcome of the game was decided in the second half.
The first chance was on 5 with Pašalić’s header from Muriel’s free-kick which skimmed the post. On 15 Zoet parried Gosens’ cross with difficulty and then Freuler shot straight at the goalkeeper on the follow-up. The Nerazzurri almost took the lead on 18, but Iličić couldn’t make the most of Zoet, who had rushed out: the Slovenian’s lob into an open goal was cleared with a header by a defender. On 33 Spezia got dangerous with Ricci, but Sportiello parried his effort.
In the second half, the give and go between the Nerazzurri was lethal. Pašalić broke the deadlock on 53 when he fired into the corner from the middle of the box after a nice combination between Mæhle and Iličić. Only two minutes later and Gosens’ pulled back for Muriel, who curled into the top corner to double the lead of the Nerazzurri. Pašalić almost scored a brace on 70 when he headed inches over from Zapata’s assist. The same duo scored a third: Zapata set it up for Pašalić who made no mistakes one-on-one with Zoet on 73. Spezia pulled one back through Piccoli – former Atalanta player – on 81. Zapata almost made it 4-1 on 85 but Zoet rushed out to deny the Colombian striker. Mæhle almost scored in stoppage time with a header from Ruggeri’s cross but the effort was punched away by Zoet. It ended 3-1 at the Gewiss Stadium and now the focus shifts to the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 which is scheduled for Tuesday away to Real Madrid.
ATALANTA 3-1 SPEZIA
Scorers: Pašalić 53 (A), Muriel 55 (A), Pašalić 73 (A), Piccoli 81 (S)
Atalanta: Sportiello, Toloi, Palomino, Djimsiti (Romero 54), Mæhle, de Roon, Freuler, Gosens (Ruggeri 91), Pašalić (Pessina 91), Iličić (Malinovskyi 67), Muriel (Zapata 67). Bench: Rossi, Gollini, Lammers, Caldara, Kovalenko, Ghislandi, Miranchuk. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Spezia: Zoet, Vignali (Acampora 67), Ismajli (Chabot 80), Erlic, Marchizza, Leo Sena, Ricci, Maggiore (Estevez 67), Verde (Farias 80), Nzola (Piccoli 80), Gyasi. Bench: Rafael, Galabinov, Terzi, Bastoni, Ferrer, Pobega, Agudelo. Coach: Vincenzo Italiano.
Referee: Valerio Marini from Roma 1.
Assistants: Domenico Rocca from Catanzaro and Giuseppe Perrotti from Campobasso.
Fourth official: Federico La Penna from Roma 1.
V.A.R.: Luigi Nasca from Bari.
A.V.A.R.: Alberto Tegoni from Milan.
Notes: Toloi (A), de Roon (A) booked
