Atalanta punched the ticket to the quarter-finals of the 2022-2023 Coppa Italia Frecciarossa after they hit 5 past Spezia in the Round of 16. With a 5-2 victory at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, the Nerazzurri make it to the next round where they will face the likes of Inter.
LOOKMAN WITH AN EARLY OPENER The match immediately yielded back-to-back goals. Lookman broke the deadlock within 10 minutes after he poked in Scalvini’s header from a corner and the Nigerian bagged a brace two minutes later with a right-footed shot following a one-two with Zapata. Spezia reacted to the double disadvantage through Ekdal, who beat Musso from a vertical play on 14 minutes. The goals continued to pour in at the Gewiss Stadium, however. In the 27th minute, it was 3-1 with a wonderful flying move inspired by Mæhle, finished off by Zapata and converted by Hateboer – who was wearing the captain’s armband today -, who slotted the ball past Zovko. Verde, however, cut again the gap for Spezia in the 38th minute. Before half-time, Zapata also had the chance to get on the scoresheet when he hit the crossbar in the 46th minute.
HØJLUND’S GEM The tempo dropped slightly in the second half, with first Hateboer and then Mæhle still managing to get a few shots away. Højlund came off the bench to score a stunner in the 72nd minute and make it 4-2: the Dane collected a lovely Muriel through ball and unleashed a left-footed strike onto the underside of the crossbar that ricocheted into the net. Muriel and Nzola also had chances, with the former being denied by Zovko. In the dying minutes of the match, Muriel sent Højlund through on goal, who chipped a shot over the visiting goalkeeper; the effort bounced off the far post only to be deflected by Ampadu into his own net, making it 5-2.
TURNING OUR FOCUS TO JUVENTUS ON FRIDAY Atalanta will kick off their preparation for the away match in Turin against Juventus tomorrow, Friday 20th January, with a behind-closed-door afternoon training session at the Centro Bortolotti in Zingonia.
ATALANTA 5-2 SPEZIA
Scorers: Lookman 10, 12 (A), Ekdal 14 (S), Hateboer 27 (A), Verde 38 (S), Højlund 72 (A), Ampadu own goal 91 (A)
Atalanta: Musso, Djimsiti, Palomino, Scalvini (Toloi 56), Hateboer (Zortea 64), Éderson (de Roon 46), Koopmeiners, Mæhle, Lookman, Zapata (Højlund 63), Boga (Muriel 64). Unused bench: Rossi, Sportiello, Okoli, Ruggeri, Demiral, Pašalić, Soppy. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Spezia: Zovko, Hristov, Kiwior (Amian 73), Nikolaou (Caldara 62), Holm (Ferrer 62), Kovalenko (Maldini 73), Ekdal (Ampadu 62), Esposito, Moutinho, Nzola, Verde. Unused bench: Dido, Dragowski, Bourabia, Gyasi, Reca, Beck, Agudelo. Coach: Luca Gotti.
Referee: Andrea Colombo from Como.
Assistant referees: Marcello Rossi from Biella and Domenico Fontemurato from Roma 2.
Fourth official: Marco Serra from Turin.
V.A.R.: Eugenio Abbattista from Molfetta.
A.V.A.R.: Salvatore Longo from Paola.
Notes: Éderson (A), Hristov (S), and Ampadu (S) booked.
