Atalanta have claimed the lead in Group F of the Champions League. Two weeks after the 2-2 draw at Villarreal, a 1-0 victory over Young Boys followed on Wednesday evening, which is three points after the previous victory over Manchester United. Villarreal (one point) and Manchester United (zero points) will face each other on Wednesday evening. In Group H, Zenit Saint Petersburg beat Malmö FF 4-0, giving the Russians the first points in the group with further Juventus and Chelsea.
Atalanta – Young Boys 1-0
Marten de Roon had a basic place at Atalanta, while Teun Koopmeiners started on the bench and Hans Hateboer is still injured. Atalanta had to deal with the retirement of Robin Gosens early in the game with a knee injury, leaving Joakim Maehle in place. Until then, there had been one serious chance: Duván Zapata popped up in the penalty area, passed two defenders and stumbled upon goalkeeper David von Ballmoos. After sixteen minutes Atalanta thought to open the score. After a spiraling free kick by Ruslan Malinovskyi, Rafael Toloi extended the ball, after which Sandro Lauper passed his own goalkeeper. Atalanta was already cheering, but the video referee discovered Toloi was offside.
Relief in Bergamo! ?? The home team has already had the better of the game for 65 minutes, but only now manages to score: Pessina with the 1-0 ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #ATAYB pic.twitter.com/YWI8WkVSy6
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 29, 2021
On the other side, a dangerous breakout by Young Boys led to a serious chance for Meschack Elia, who shot over the penalty area from inside the penalty area. Furthermore, the first half was devoid of opportunities, until Matteo Pessina suddenly got the ball in the goal mouth in the final minute and did not finish well. Midway through the second half, Pessina had more fortune in finishing. After a good play on the back line from Zapata, who shook Lauper off and put the ball wide, Pessina shoved his leg and shot from close range. Von Ballmoos prevented Zapata and Luis Muriel from making it 2-0 with good saves. Shortly before time, Koopmeiners made his comeback as a substitute. Atalanta recorded their first ever Champions League win at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia, which opened in 2017.
Zenit Saint Petersburg – Malmo FF 4-0
Zenit took the lead after nine minutes, when Claudinho tapped in a low cross from Douglas Santos’ left: 1-0. Malmö came close to equalizing shortly afterwards, but Anders Christiansen headed the ball over the goal. Just before half time, the Russians pressed again, but Malcom was unable to tap in a Douglas Santos cross and two minutes later shot just wide again from inside the penalty area.
claudinhooo ???? The Brazilian opens the Champions League evening with a goal for Zenit Saint Petersburg ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #ZENMAL pic.twitter.com/bv2qMzzB5g
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 29, 2021
In the second half, Malmö quickly gave up the game. Zenit defender Yaroslav Rakitsky, who had come along for a corner, picked up a failed cross at the far post and reinserted the ball, after which Daler Kuzyayev headed in from close range: 2-0. To make matters worse for the Swedes, Anel Ahmedhodzic was shown red in the 53rd minute after the defender prevented Kuzyayev from breaking through with a handball. Ten minutes before the end, Zenit exploited his numerical surplus, when Alex Sutormin placed the ball from about eighteen meters with the left in the bottom corner: 3-0. Deep in stoppage time, Wendel determined the final score at 4-0.