Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 4:53 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 16:57

Atalanta did excellent business in the Serie A on Saturday afternoon. The team of coach Gian Piero Gasperini turned a 0-1 deficit against Spezia into a 5-2 win. Mario Pasalic had an important part in the victory with two hits. It is the sixth game in a row for Atalanta in which there is no loss (four wins, two draws). The status does not change. Atalanta remains fourth with 25 points from 13 matches, while Spezia can be found in sixteenth place.

Atalanta is experiencing an excellent first season and only managed to reach the same number of points twice before after thirteen matches in the Serie A. With Marten de Roon and Teun Koopmeiners in the base, however, things went wrong against Spezia early in the game. Goalkeeper Juan Musso had an excellent save from the edge of the penalty area on a shot by Daniele Verde, but was unable to prevent the ball from hitting M’Bala Nzola via his fists and the crossbar. It was a breeze to then shoot the ball in: 0-1.

Not much later, the home team took matters into their own hands and tied the score after more than fifteen minutes of play. Pasalic was served by Davide Zappacosta and left Ivan Provedel no chance. The latter is still preferred at Spezia over Jeroen Zoet, who has lost his place under the bar since the beginning of October. Five minutes before half time, Atalanta took the lead for the first time, when Duván Zapata was allowed to score from eleven meters after hands with the visitors. The Colombian initially failed, but was allowed to do the trick again: 2-1. The margin was raised to two before half time. Pasalic had plenty of time and space to place the ball in the right corner after a measured pass from Zapata: 3-1.

In the second act, the entertainment value dropped significantly and Atalanta failed to build up the score. Pasalic hit the post, while Nzola on the other side bumped into goalkeeper Musso. When the duel slowly bled to death, Atalanta struck twice more out of nowhere in the final phase. Luis Muriel found the left corner on Pasalic’s pass, after which Ruslan Malinovskyi signed for the 5-1 five minutes later. The final chord came from Nzola’s foot, who signed for his second of the afternoon in injury time. Next Tuesday, Atalantain Switzerland will play the crucial Champions League match against the Young Boys.