On the 29th day of Serie A, Atalanta lost 2-0 at home against Bologna and slowed down in the race for the Champions League, throwing away the opportunity to hook Inter in the standings and also bring Milan closer. In the first half, the Goddess was more dangerous, but Skorupski kept her up with saves on Zappacosta (twice) and Hojlund. At the start of the second half, the goal by Samson, with a precise left foot strike (49′). In the final on the break the doubling of Orsolini: Thiago Motta consolidates his eighth place and sees Europe.
REPORT CARDS
Hojlund 6 – He’s lost a bit of the brilliance of a few weeks ago, but at least he tries in every way and hits the counter throughout the match with Lukumì.
Lookman 5 – The easy goal against Cremonese seemed to be the antechamber to get out of the tunnel of subdued performances. Instead, the Nigerian striker confirms himself as a distant relative of the relentless and admired footballer for most of the season.
Scalvini 5 – He has Samson’s goal on his conscience, as he falls asleep in the center of the area and keeps him in the game. Serious mistake that a few minutes later cost him the change too.
Samson 7 – He suffers in the first half due to the lack of supplies, but on the first and only occasion he makes no mistake and draws a brushstroke with an applause left foot.
Skorupski 7 – There are also the Polish goalkeeper’s big hands in Bologna’s coup in Bergamo. Watch out for Zappacosta twice, he surpasses Hojlund in the first half and in the second half he says no again to the Dane and to Muriel in the recovery.
Soumaoro 7 – Together with Lucumì it forms a practically insurmountable wall. Hojlund’s first-half save is almost as good as a goal.
THE MATCH
Atalanta didn’t take advantage of the brakes from Milan and Inter, they were surprised by an excellent Bologna and lacked the great chance to catch up with the Nerazzurri. Gasperini’s team can complain about the unexploited opportunities in the first half, while in the second half the Bolognese had the merit of immediately unlocking the match and controlled without particular worries until Orsolini doubled their lead. The entry of the former Juve striker represented the turning point for Thiago Motta. The only drawback of the afternoon was the admonition that his player got on the occasion of the 2-0 goal disallowed for offside: warned, he got the correct admonition for having taken off his shirt which will cost him the disqualification against Milan. Gasperini, who also lost Pasalic after about twenty minutes, tried to play all the offensive cards available to him but without success.
Gasperini, without the suspended Toloi and the injured Hateboer, Koopmeiners and Ruggeri, finds Djimsiti in defense and revolutionizes the attack compared to Cremonese: in front of the attacking midfielder Pasalic the couple Hojlund-Lookman reforms. Zapata starts from the bench. Only one change, however, for Thiago Motta, with Aebischer giving way to Soriano. Orsolini and Dominguez still start from the bench. After an initial phase of study, the first danger brings him to Bologna in the 13th minute: Musso misses the support for Scalvini, Soriano intercepts the ball but crosses badly and the action vanishes. The reaction from the Goddess was immediate, with Skorupski lifting Zappacosta’s blow over the crossbar. The two teams face each other and retaliate blow by blow: in the 22nd minute Musso stretches out on his left and blocks Kyriakopoulos’ violent right foot. Gasperini loses Pasalic due to an ankle problem: Boga in for an even more offensive traction Goddess. In the half hour Atalanta very close to taking the lead, with a double chance for Hojulund, the first rejected by Skorupski, the second by Soumaoro. Then the Polish goalkeeper was also reactive on Zappacosta’s header. We go into the break with the result nailed to 0-0.
Thiago Motta leaves Soriano in the locker room and dares more with the inclusion of Orsolini, for what will prove to be the winning move. At the first chance Bologna unlocks the match: Barrow serves Sansone kept in play by Scalvini, a left footer who beats Musso (49′). Gasp tries to take cover by inserting Zapata and Demiral, the answer from his colleague is Dominguez and Zirkzee for Barrow and Sansone, the architects of the goal. The Dutchman himself has the 2-0 ball on his right, but misses a few steps from Musso. Hojlund tries his head, but it’s just a flash in the pan. Musso saves on Kyriakopoulos and in the 80th minute he is saved by the Var on Orsolini’s tap-in, who cheers in a disorderly way, takes off his shirt and is booked: double insult for the player who, warned, will miss Milan. However, the appointment with the goal was only postponed and in the 86th minute Orsolini doubled his lead on the counterattack. Muriel nearly scored in the 94th minute (nice flight from Skorupski), but it’s not exactly a day for the Goddess.
THE TABLE
ATALANTA 0-2 BOLOGNA
Atalanta (3-4-1-2): Musso 6.5, Djimsiti 6, Palomino 6, Scalvini 5 (7′ st Demiral 5.5); Zappacosta 6 (34′ st Muriel 6), De Roon 6, Ederson 6, Maehle 5.5, Pasalic 6 (24′ Boga 5.5); Hojlund 6, Lookman 5 (7′ st Zapata 5).
A disp.: Rossi, Sportiello, Okoli, Soppy.
All.: Gasperini 5.5
Bologna (4-2-3-1): Skorupski 7, Posch 6, Soumaoro 7, Lucumì 7, Kyriakopoulos 6.5; Schouten 6, Moro 6.5 (39′ st Medel sv); Soriano 5.5 (1st Orsolini 6.5), Ferguson 6, Barrow 6 (11th Dominguez 6); Sansone 7 (11′ st Zirkzee 6,5).
A disp.: Bardi, Ravaglia, Sosa, Bonifazi, Aebischer, Lykogiannis, Pyythia, De Silvestri.
All.: Thiago Motta 7
Referee: bear
Markers: 4′ st Sansone (B), 41′ st Orsolini (B)
Ammonite yourself: Zappacosta (A), Lucumì (B), Palomino (A), Djimsiti (A), Orsolini (B)
Expelled: –
Note: –
THE STATISTICS
Since Thiago Motta’s first victory in this championship at the helm of Bologna (11th matchday), only Napoli (48) and Juventus (43) have obtained more points on the pitch than the rossoblùs (36) in their spell in Serie A.
Bologna have scored 43 points after 29 Serie A matches: from 2000 onwards, only once had the Rossoblù scored more at this point in the season – 48 in 2001/02, finishing seventh at the end of the tournament.
Third goal against Atalanta for Nicola Sansone in Serie A: only against Inter (five) and Milan (four) has the striker scored more than against Dea in Serie A.
Fourth assist in the last nine appearances in Serie A for Musa Barrow: since the beginning of February, the Bologna player is the one who has provided the most winning passes in the competition (four).
Musa Barrow has been involved in four goals in his last two Serie A appearances (one goal and three assists), as many goals as in his previous 21 games in the competition.
Since the beginning of January 2023, only Victor Osimhen (12) and Lautaro Martinez (seven) have scored more goals than Riccardo Orsolini in Serie A (six).
Riccardo Orsolini has already scored eight goals in his 25 league games, equaling his record in a single Serie A season (eight goals in 35 appearances for Bologna in 2018/19 and eight goals in 37 matches, also for the rossoblù in the 2019/20).
Second goal in his last four Serie A games for Nicola Sansone, as many goals as in his previous 48 appearances in the competition.
Bologna won an away match against Atalanta in Serie A for the first time since 28 January 2009 (0-1 when Luigi Del Neri and Sinisa Mihajlovic sat on the benches of the two teams).
Atalanta have gone without scoring in four of their last six Serie A matches, as many times as in their previous 33 matches in the competition.
Bologna achieved back-to-back successes by keeping clean sheets for the first time since December 2021 (1-0 v Spezia and Roma in that case)
Since Thiago Motta took over the Bologna bench (seventh matchday), only Napoli (11) and Empoli (eight) have won more clean sheets than the rossoblùs in Serie A (seven).
Atalanta failed to score two home games in a row against Bologna in Serie A for the first time since November 1978 (two consecutive 0-0 home draws in the 77/78 and 78/79 seasons).
Luis Muriel reached 150 appearances in all competitions for Atalanta today.