Just two shutout wins in this game, by Empoli and SPAL, but the Azzurri did not exactly dominate versus Fiorentina, while the Estensi did it against Chievo, which is easy pickings at this point. Therefore, the nod goes to the team that had the most impressive win, Atalanta, which ransacked Olimpico and pretty much eliminated Lazio from Champions League contention.
Gian Piero Gasperini was able to recuperate Josip Ilicic after last week’s absence, while Robin Gosens was not fit enough to be in the XI and thus Timothy Castagne started on the left flank. Berat Djimisiti was picked over Gianluca Mancini in the back.
Lazio scored a sucker-punch goal in the early going, as Marco Parolo rifled it home taking advantage of the room created by Felipe Caicedo in the box on a confusing action. Pierluigi Gollini prevented the opponents from going up two later on with a strong save on a Ciro Immobile strike.
However, the Nerazzurri are the team that amassed the most point in the League coming back from disadvantageous positions and lived up to their reputation from here on out. Duvan Zapata skied his first attempt, but hit the mark on the second at the 22nd minute after intercepting a weak shot by Remo Freuler.
The Bergamaschi played the opponents off the park from an intensity standpoint and almost found the second goal right away, but Ilicic’s cross-shot from great position was too wide. After intermission, he was denied by Thomas Strakosha on a point-blank effort after gliding past Bastos with class.
The second and third Goddess’ goals were gifts by Wallace. First, he had a horrendous giveaway that allowed Alejandro Gomez to attack the box, the defender recovered just enough to deny Papu a clear shot, so he sent in a square ball that was imprecise for the first man, Freuler, but was met by the onrushing Castagne, who put it on target.
Twenty minutes later, where the reaction by the Biancocelesti was limited to a very inaccurate attempt by Joaquin Correa, Djimsiti and Wallace dueled in the air on a corner kick and the Brazilian defender bagged it into his own net.
Atalanta have been undefeated since late February, racking up seven wins in the last ten rounds and three in a row. They are in sole possession of the fourth place and stretched their lead over Roma to three points. The two goal scorers, Zapata and Castagne, collected four points, Freuler two because he was credited with an assist and Gomez one due to a yellow card.
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