Nice-Atalanta 0-3, Hojlund, Zapata and Boga give the Bergamo players victory

Three goals scored, at least four close, few dangers run: Nice had absentees (no more than Gasperini had…), but they are still a Ligue 1 team, which before the break had shown growth and won its Conference League group. In short, a reliable test and with this dry 3-0, away, the Goddess confirmed the good indications that had already emerged at Gewiss, in the Bortolotti Trophy a week ago. Among other things, three goals with the signature of three forwards: this too is not a bad sign. For the Nerazzurri coach it was also an experimental test due to obligations due to absences: “world players” still in Qatar (Pasalic) or on post-Qatar vacation (De Roon and Koopmeiners), long-term injured (Zappacosta) and more recent (Demiral, Hateboer and since yesterday Palomino, due to muscle fatigue), forfeit in extremis (Lookman, who remained in Bergamo with the flu).

Gasp’s choices

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Thus the coach dusted off the 3-4-1-2, with Malinovskyi – still a little detached from the game – attacking midfielder behind the unprecedented pairing Hojlund-Zapata, with equally unprecedented Maehle as a midfielder alongside Ederson, with Soppy always on wing but set back in midfield compared to the test against Eintracht a week ago and Ruggeri on the other lane, on the left. And it was precisely from the boy from Zingonia, after a quarter of an hour of pure domination by Nice, that the glimpse into the match arrived: a perfect grazing, like Hojlund’s timing in going for a header, anticipating Lotomba flatly. Half time 4′, and the doubling arrived: Zapata had “called” his personal goal just before, forcing Schmeichel to protect his post with a deflection for a corner, and found it with an angry turn, going to play behind the French defensive line to take advantage of a back-heel from Scalvini, at the suggestion of Maehle. Then, to keep the 2-0 up, Laborde’s poison shot required an extraordinary reflex from Musso, who had already made a block on at least three other occasions, albeit with less “clean” saves than the last.

finally bogue

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No more were needed in the second half, not even by Sportiello, to keep the 2-0 in the fridge, because Nice didn’t do much to restore balance to the game. Indeed, it was Atalanta who brought the 3-0 closer several times, with a left foot from Ruggeri (inspired by Ederson), a kind of penalty aimed high by Malinovskyi in a very favorable position, a good Zapata-Hojlund combination and another high shot of the Colombian, semi-free in the area after a good restart. And the trio arrived just a few seconds from the end, with a Muriel-Boga combination: the Colombian’s touch for his partner was splendid, and he closed by finding the opposite intersection.