Atalanta bite back in second half to defeat Bologna
The visitors required a stoppage-time equaliser to come from two goals down to draw against Spezia in their previous outing. After conceding inside the opening 10 minutes of that 2-2 draw, La Dea would have been keen to start positively at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, but Bologna had other ideas. In the sixth minute, Riccardo Orsolini picked up the ball on the edge of the box and drove a powerful strike into the far corner to register his third goal of the season.
While the hosts were prepared to defend deep inside their own half following Orsolini’s opener, they continued to offer a threat, with Gary Medel dragging his effort wide, and Charalampos Lykogiannis forcing Juan Musso into action with a menacing strike from distance. A second Bologna goal may not have been forthcoming before HT, but with Atalanta unable to register a shot on target in the first period, the hosts headed down the tunnel with their narrow lead intact.
Evidently displeased with his side’s lacklustre first half display, Gian Piero Gasperini made a double change at the break, introducing Jérémie Boga and Davide Zappacosta. Within two minutes of the restart, Boga laid the ball into the path of Teun Koopmeiners, who produced a sublime long-range effort, rifling his shot past the out-stretched Łukasz Skorupski. Sensationally, Rasmus Højlund completed the Atalanta turnaround before the hour mark, latching onto Boga’s neat through ball, before delicately lifting the ball over the goalkeeper.
With Bologna unable to call upon the services of top-scorer Marko Arnautović, their attempts to find an equaliser lacked a cutting edge. Nicolás Domínguez fired an effort wide in the closing stages, but in truth, Atalanta, closed out the win with little fuss, moving them up to sixth position. While the Rossoblù have now failed to win eight of the 10 league matches where they have scored first, leaving the hosts in 12th place.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jérémie Boga (Atalanta)
