After escaping Lazio with a 1-1 draw on Saturday, Atalanta maintained their lead in Serie A, holding Inter Milan at bay but ending their club-record league winning streak at 11 games. With two minutes left, Marco Brescianini scored into an open goal to steal a point from the fervent supporters at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, who were expecting a decisive victory. After the champions momentarily tied the score with a 3-0 victory against Cagliari earlier in the season, Atalanta will finish a record year one point ahead of Inter, who still have a game left.
Even if Napoli defeats Venezia on Sunday and locks up 41 points with Gian Piero Gasperini’s team, who have a far higher goal differential than the 2023 champions, Europa League holders Atalanta will still be in first place.
Atalanta has never won the Scudetto, and if two clubs finish tied at the top of Serie A at the end of the season, they will play each other in a single match to determine the winner.
Atalanta coach Gasperini stated, “We were much better in the second half, but we struggled for long periods in the first half.”
“This year has been the best year in Atalanta’s history, let’s hope we can make 2025 the same.”
During a frenetic first half, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru gave Lazio the goal in the 27th minute, but Atalanta showed amazing spirit to fight back.
Lazio dominated the first half, with Marco Carnesecchi making two incredible saves before Matteo Guendouzi curled a fantastic effort off the post in the eleventh minute.
However, in front of a raucous and antagonistic crowd in the Italian capital, Atalanta, who were without their injured star striker Mateo Retegui, settled into the game and rightfully pulled even as the game went on.
Ademola Lookman was primarily responsible for Brescianini’s third goal of the season. He had previously missed from yards out, but he made up for it by evading Lazio’s offside trap, meeting Nicolo Zaniolo’s looped ball, and rolling over to his teammate to save a valuable point.
Atalanta will next go to Saudi Arabia to compete in the Italian Super Cup, where they will take on Inter on Thursday.
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