A fundamental victory to be able to reopen everything. Atalanta won 2-1 in Monza thanks to goals from De Ketelaere and Touré, the late goal scored by Daniel Maldini was useless, even if the son of art hit the inside post with a splendid shot at the last second right. A thrilling final for the Bergamo players, but in the end Gasperini’s team managed to get three fundamental points ahead of the home match against Empoli. First, however, there will be the semi-final of the Italian Cup against Fiorentina (scheduled for Wednesday 24 April, 9.00 pm).
Monza are bittersweet, suffering their third defeat in the last four matches: in the next round the Brianza team will challenge Lecce. A turnover forced due to the efforts of the cups, but by changing the order of the addends the result did not change, at least in the first half. Gasperini sent El Bilal Touré onto the field, with De Ketelaere and Lookman completing the unit. In the first twenty minutes Atalanta essentially managed possession, but the Nerazzurri were unable to undermine the Brianza defense: the home team instead waited in their own half, relying on counterattacks.
After a couple of bursts in which De Ketelaere was the protagonist, the Dea found the advantage from a corner thanks to the Belgian’s header, capable of anticipating Gagliardini in the Monza small area. The pace of the match struggled to take off, the Nerazzurri tried to double their lead from the start of the second half: in the 27th minute it was El Bilal Touré who scored the second goal of the match after an assist from Lookman, a perfect ball to be pushed only Network. The red and whites, on the other hand, struggled without finding space, only Maldini’s goal in the 44th minute – a shot from the edge of the corner placed in the corner – gave the home team hope in a very heated final: again Maldini, in full recovery, hit the pole.
The scoreboard
MONZA (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio 6; Birindelli 5.5, Izzo 5.5 (33’st Caldirola 6), Pablo Marí 6, Kyriakopoulos 5.5 (20’st Maldini 7); Gagliardini 5 (33’st D’Ambrosio 6), Bondo 5.5; Colpani 5 (9’st V.Carboni 6), Pessina 6, Zerbin 6; Djuric 5.5 (33’st Colombo 6). On the bench: Sorrentino, Gori, Donati, A.Carboni, Pereira, Ferraris, Vignato. Coach: Palladino 5.5
ATALANTA (3-4-1-2): Carnesecchi 5.5; Toloi 6 (23’st Djimsiti 6), Hien 6, Kolasinac 6.5; Holm 6 (28’pt Hateboer 6), Pasalic 6, Ederson 6.5 (23’st De Roon 6), Bakker 5.5 (1’st Ruggeri 6); De Ketelaere 7 (19’st Koopmeiners 6.5); Touré 7, Lookman 7. On the bench: Musso, Rossi, Bonfanti, Zappacosta, Adopo, Miranchuk, Scamacca. Coach: Gasperini 7 REFEREE: Giua di Olbia 6 GOALS: 44’pt De Ketelaere, 27’st Touré, 44’st Maldini NOTES: pitch in good condition. Spectators: 13,983. Booked: Birindelli, Izzo, Djimsiti, Hien, Bondo. Angles: 2-8. Recovery: 3’pt, 6’st.