The Primavera’s Scudetto dream fades away at the end of a final rich in goals and emotions. The title goes to Empoli who win 5-3 at the Ricci Stadium of Sassuolo and lift up the Scudetto of the 2020-2021 Primavera 1 TIM “Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti”.
The deadlock was broken on 28 minutes when Asllani scored from a free-kick. The Nerazzurri lost Ghislandi due to an injury when it still wasn’t even 15′ (Grassi came on for him) but immediately reacted to it and Sidibe equalised in the 36th minute: Gyabuaa assisted him to find the bottom corner with his right foot. However, right before half-time, Empoli scored twice: first Baldzani sailed into the box and scored on 41 minutes and then through Ekong, who managed to break away and made it 3-1.
In the second half, Italeng found the back of the net with a header from Oliveri’s cross on 53 minutes. After only one minute, Ekong broke away from the Nerazzurri defence and restored the Tuscans’ two-goal lead. On 60 minutes, Cortinovis sent Gyabuaa through with a back-heel flick, but the latter didn’t manage to find the back of the net. Two minutes later, Ghisleni missed Renault’s cross with his head. From the 71st minute, both teams went down to 10 men as De Nipoti and Pezzola were sent off. The Nerazzurri then had to do without another man from the 84th minute, as Scalvini was shown the red card for a last-man foul. But it was not over yet because Cortinovis kept the Nerazzurri’s hopes high by converting a penalty on 90 minutes. Atalanta put their heart and determination in it till the very end, but a minute later, Baldanzi made it 5-3. Cittadini hit the bar on 93 to put an end to the final. Congratulations to Empoli, who demonstrated themselves as a strong team of high quality, but also to our lads who kept their heads high and did their best in a long and difficult match till the last second.
ATALANTA 3-5 EMPOLI
Scorers: Asllani 28 (E), Sidibe 36 (A) Baldanzi 41 (E), Ekong 46 (E), Italeng 53 (A), Ekong 54 (E), Cortinovis pen 90 (A), Baldanzi 91 (E).
Atalanta: Dajcar, Ghislandi (Grassi 14, Mediero 79), Ceresoli (Oliveri 46), Scalvini, Gyabuaa, Italeng, Cortinovis, Ghisleni (De Nipoti 67), Berto (Cittadini 46), A. Sidibe, G. Renault. Bench: Sassi, Vismara, Giovane, Scanagatta, Hecko, Zuccon, Rosa. Coach: Massimo Brambilla.
Empoli: Hvalic, Rizza, Asllani, Pezzola, Lipari (Martini 65), Belardinelli, Baldanzi (Bozhanaj 92), Ekong (Degli Innocenti 76), Siniega, Donati, Fazzini (S. Sidibe 92). Bench: Fontanelli, Toccafondi, Keramitsis, Indragoli, Morelli, Manfredi, Lombardi, Rossi. Coach: Antonio Buscè (Francesco Spanò on the bench).
Referee: Gianpiero Miele from Nola (assistants Claudio Gualtieri from Asti and Giuseppe Di Giacinto from Teramo, fourth official Maria Marotta from Sapri).
Notes: De Nipoti (A) and Pezzola (E) sent off on 71 minutes and Scalvini (A) sent off on 84, Ceresoli (A), Gyabuaa (A), Italeng (A) booked.
