PARMA starting XI (4-2-3-1): Suzuki, Coulibaly (subbed for Hainaut), Delprato, Balogh, Valeri, Estevez (subbed for Haj Mohamed), Sohm, Man, Benedyczak (subbed for Mihaila), Cancellieri (subbed for Charpentier), Bonny (subbed for Almqvist)
Bench: Chichizola, Corvi, Keita, Camara, Leoni, Di Chiara
Goals: Cancellieri 49’
ATALANTA starting XI (3-4-1-2): Carnesecchi, Kossounou, Hien, Toloi (subbed for Scalvini), Bellanova (subbed for Cuadrado), de Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri, Pasalic (subbed for Brescianini), Retegui (subbed for De Ketelaere), Lookman (subbed for Samardzic)
Bench: Rui Patricio, Rossi, Sulemana, Zaniolo, Palestra
Goals: Retegui 4’, Ederson 39’, Lookman 75’
Last season, it was an upset victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final to end the German club’s European-record unbeaten run at 51 games.
Atalanta keep on surprising, and their latest exploit was temporarily moving atop Serie A following a 3-1 win at Parma on Saturday for their seventh straight win in Serie A.
And to think that coach Gian Piero Gasperini considered leaving Atalanta toward the end of last season.
Now, Gasperini has the chance to guide La Dea (The Goddess), as the team is nicknamed, to their first ever Italian league title.
There’s a long way to go, though, and it should be noted that Atalanta are in a crowded part of the table, with only four points separating first and sixth.
Also on Saturday, AC Milan and Juventus drew 0-0 at the San Siro in a match with few chances from both sides. Milan produced one shot on goal and Juventus created two.
Gasperini’s attack-first tactics have produced a league-best 34 goals
Atalanta’s Mateo Retegui scored his league-leading 12th goal of the season, Ederson made it 2-0 before the break and Europa League final hero Ademola Lookman restored the two-goal advantage after Matteo Cancellieri had pulled one back for Parma.
Retegui’s fourth headed goal of the season put him atop that category across Europe’s five major leagues, according to Opta, while Lookman volleyed in a cross from Juan Cuadrado after having two goals disallowed.
Gasperini was sent off midway through the second half for protests. But he was smiling in the stands at the final whistle.
Atalanta’s 34 goals are the most in Italy, and trail only Barcelona (42), Bayern Munich (36) and Paris Saint-Germain (36) across Europe’s top five leagues.
Atalanta have won two and drawn two in the Champions League this season.
AAP
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