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Tag Atalanta

  • Mar, Tue, 2020
Sport

Ilicic masterclass guides Atalanta past Valencia in UEFA Champions League

Masterclass
Valencia (Spain), March 10, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Visiting Atalanta’s Josip Ilicic scored four goals in a stunning individual display to lead them to a 4-3 UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg win over Valencia on Tuesday.

The Italian side thus completed an 8-4 aggregate victory, at an empty Mestalla stadium.

The Spanish side’s stadium was shut to supporters as part of measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, with the visitors coming from a high-risk zone in the north of Italy.

Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby conceded two penalty kicks in the first half, both converted by Ilicic, either side of Kevin Gameiro’s equaliser.

Gameiro headed home a second and Ferran Torres put Valencia ahead on the night.

But Slovenian playmaker Ilicic completed his hat-trick and then curled in a sumptuous fourth as his team reached the quarter-finals.(Reuters/NAN)
KIA/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Wed, 2020
Sport

UCL: Atalanta fairytale continues as Italians thrash Valencia

Fairytale
Milan (Italy), Feb. 19, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Atalanta continued their dream debut UEFA Champions League campaign on Wednesday with a 4-1 win over Valencia in an entertaining last 16 first leg meeting at San Siro in Milan.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Serie A side raced into a two-goal lead by half-time with goals from Hans Hateboer and Josip Ilicic, while Valencia were denied by the post.

Remo Freuler’s curling strike and a second goal for Hateboer looked to have ended the tie as a contest.

But substitute Denis Cheryshev gave the Spanish visitors a faint glimmer of hope with an away goal.

Two-time runners-up Valencia will host the Serie A side at the Mestalla Stadium in the return leg on March 10.

Atalanta qualified for Europe’s top club competition for the first time with a surprise third-place finish in Serie A last season.

It was achieved in spite of having the 14th-highest wage budget in the division.

Playing their home games at Milan after their Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia failed to meet UEFA standards, they got off to a nightmare start by losing their opening three group games.

But a home draw with Manchester City followed by wins over Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk was enough to send them to the knockout stages.

More than 45,000 fans travelled to Milan for Wednesday’s game, 51 kilometres away from Atalanta’s hometown of Bergamo, which has a population of just 120,000 people.

They began in confident fashion, coming close to the opener after just eight minutes when Mario Pasalic burst into the box and saw his curling shot superbly saved by Jaume Domenech.

The hosts found the breakthrough when Hateboer met an Alejandro Gomez cross at the back post and slid in a finish from close range.

The goal drew a response from Valencia, who were inches away from an equaliser when Ferran Torres smashed a shot against the post from a tight angle.

Goncalo Guedes’ effort also flew wide, just beyond the outstretched foot of Eliaquim Mangala.

But the Italians doubled their lead three minutes before the interval when Ilicic gathered the ball on the edge of the area and smashed a right-footed drive beyond Domenech.

The chances continued to flow in the second half and a third goal arrived when Freuler whipped a sublime finish into the top corner from the edge of the area.

Valencia striker Maxi Gomez squandered a glorious chance, firing a shot into the scrambling Pierluigi Gollini’s grasp with the goal gaping.

Yet the Dutch international Hateboer struck again after 63 minutes, beating the offside trap on the right wing before driving forward and firing home a finish.

Valencia eventually took one of their chances to notch an away goal.

A lazy pass from Jose Luis Palomino was pounced on by substitute Cheryshev, who drilled a shot into the bottom corner with his first act of the game.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Serie A: Atalanta hand rudderless AC Milan 5-goal thrashing

Serie A
Milan (Italy), Dec. 22, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Alejandro Gomez scored a stunning individual goal and Josip Ilicic notched a second half brace as Atalanta thrashed a rudderless AC Milan 5-0 on Sunday

The result helped to hand the former European champions their opponents their joint-heaviest Serie A defeat.

Former AC Milan player Mario Pasalic rubbed further salt into their wounds by also scoring.

It was the fourth time AC Milan have lost a Serie A match by a five-goal margin and the first since 1998.

AC Milan are 10th in the table with 21 points while Atalanta climbed to fifth with 31 points.

It helped Atalanta to cap an outstanding year which saw them qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time and reach the last 16.

“It’s been a fantastic year which has been crowned by today’s performance,” said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

His opposite number Stefano Pioli said that Milan “approached the match in the wrong way and you just can’t afford to do that against this team. This cannot be the real AC Milan.”

“Today’s performance was seriously insufficient,” added Pioli, Milan’s second coach of the season after his predecessor Marco Giampaolo was fired after only seven games.

“I expected a reaction from us in the second half but it didn’t come. In fact, we were even worse.”

Gomez opened the scoring in the 10th minute, nutmegging a hapless Andrea Conti before firing a right foot shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 10th minute.

Pasalic, who clipped the crossbar before half-time, diverted Robin Gonsens’ cross-shot into the net in the 61st minute, although he refused to celebrate his goal.

Ilicic then scored twice in a nine-minute spell to turn it into a humiliation for AC Milan as their defence fell apart.

The Slovenia forward collected a pass on the right, outfoxed his marker and drilled his shot past Donnarumma in the 63rd minute.

Then he curled a delightful effort into the top corner from outside the area.

Davide Calabria cleared a shot off the line but there was still more to come as Luis Muriel ran onto a through ball, outran an AC Milan defender.

He evaded Donnarumma as the goalkeeper rushed out of his area and added the fifth.

The referee spared AC Milan further punishment by mercifully adding on only one minute of stoppage time. (Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Atalanta send holders Juventus crashing out of Coppa Italia, as Fiorentina maul Roma

Knockout

Atalanta (Italy), Jan. 31, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Holders Juventus crashed out of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday with a 3-0 defeat at Atalanta, as striker Duvan Zapata scored twice to continue with his electric form.

Timothy Castagne and Zapata struck in the 37th and 39th minutes to stun the record 13-times winners, with Zapata netting another late on to set up a semi-final clash with Fiorentina.
Atalanta, who earned a 2-2 draw against Serie A leaders Juventus at Bergamo in December, pulled off another surprise result, ensuring Juve would not win the competition for a fifth season running.

Castagne caught out Joao Cancelo and drilled home from the edge of the box to put the hosts ahead, with the Colombian Zapata lashing in the second moments later.

Furious Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was sent off after throwing his jacket onto the pitch after the second goal.

The Old Lady were not stirred into action, however, and failed to record a single shot on target in the first half.

Zapata pounced for his second in the final stages, taking his tally to 17 goals in his last 10 games across all competitions.

Elsewhere, Federico Chiesa scored a hat-trick as Fiorentina humiliated AS Roma 7-1 to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals on Wednesday.

Chiesa, the 21-year-old Italy forward, sliced Roma open at will, hitting the post early on and striking twice in the first 18 minutes.

Aleksandar Kolarov pulled one back for the visitors but Luis Muriel restored Fiorentina’s two-goal lead before the break.

Eusebio Di Francesco’s Roma completely collapsed in the second half with Chiesa completing his hat-trick, Giovanni Simeone scoring twice and Marco Benassia also finding the net.

Substitute Eden Dzeko was sent off for the visitors after arguing with the referee to complete a woeful night for the visitors.

Stefano Pioli’s Viola will face Atalanta in a two-legged semi-final. (Reuters/NAN)

VO/OLAL

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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)