At the Sardegna Arena in Cagliari in the 2019-2020 Serie A TIM Matchday 30, the eighth straight win in the league comes for the Nerazzurri, the tenth in all competitions: the record has been improved, thanks to Muriel converting a penalty which moves Atalanta to within a point of third-place Inter.
The Cagliari Club showed a nice gesture of closeness to the city of Bergamo before the match by handing over to the Nerazzurri captain, de Roon today, a case containing a shirt with a sentence in memory of the victims of Covid-19.
The match was lively from the start. A Simeone goal on 12 was disallowed after a handball confirmed by a VAR review. Pašalić had a chance after 21 minutes, when his header was inches off target. On 23, the post denied Muriel and Simeone, on the counter – almost equalised for Cagliari with a slightly off target angle drive. The turning point came on 26: great pass from de Roon to Malinovskyi who was pushed down in the box by Carboni: penalty and dismissal. Muriel didn’t miss the penalty and scored the 100th goal of the season for the Nerazzurri in all competitions. The Colombian again and then Palomino almost doubled Atalanta lead in the final minutes of the first half, missing the target from scoring position.
In the second half, Hateboer immediately came close to doubling their lead: the Dutch header hits the post after 4 minutes. The Nerazzurri managed their lead and became dangerous in the final minutes with fresh force Iličić and Zapata who tested Cragno.
CAGLIARI-ATALANTA 0-1
Reti: Muriel (A) penalty on 72
Cagliari: Cragno, Walukiewicz, Pisacane (Klavan 75), Carboni, Nandez, Ionita (Faragò 67), Rog, Lykogiannis (Mattiello 67), Nainggolan (Birsa 67), Joao Pedro, Simeone (Ragatzu 75). Bench: Rafael, Ciocci, Cigarini, Paloschi, Boccia, Ladinetti, Gagliano. Coach: Walter Zenga.
Atalanta: Sportiello, Šutalo (Toloi 83), Caldara, Palomino, Hateboer (Gosens 74), Tameze, de Roon, Castagne, Pašalić (Iličić 61), Malinovskyi (Gomez 61), Muriel (Zapata 61). Bench: Rossi, Gollini, Freuler, Djimsiti, Bellanova, Colley. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Referee: Federico La Penna from Roma 1.
Assistants: Dario Cecconi from Empoli and Davide Imperiale from Genova.
Fourth official: Federico Dionisi from L’Aquila.
V.A.R.: Maurizio Mariani from Aprilia.
A.V.A.R.: Alessandro Giallatini from Roma 2.
Notes: sent off Carboni (C) on 26′ for a last man foul, Carboni (C), Pisacane (C), Nandez (C), Palomino (A), Hateboer (A) booked.
