Atalanta inch closer to Europe with win that sends Roma out of Serie A's top four
In seven of the last 13 meetings between Atalanta and Roma in Serie A, the away team has led 1-0 at half-time, however, for an extended period of the first half the entirety of the Gewiss Stadium was begging for an attempt on target, let alone a goal.
There was a not-so-grand total of zero in the opening 30 minutes, with the only action of note not even occurring on the pitch.
After Ederson was deemed to have left a trailing arm in Tammy Abraham’s face, his manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, was shown a yellow card for fierce protestations in his technical area.
Eventually, the first shot on target arrived in the 39th minute, and with it came an excellently-worked opener for La Dea. Duvan Zapata held off Bryan Cristante on the edge of the box before turning and getting a low cross away into the six-yard box.
The cross was met by Pasalic - restored to the starting line-up after missing the last match - who volleyed sweetly into the top left corner before Rui Patricio could even comprehend what was happening.
This was a massive goal in the race for European qualification, as the hosts inched to within two points of the top six and more importantly four points off their opponents in fourth.
It was also the first time Roma have conceded in four matches, putting Jose Mourinho in the recently unfamiliar position of having to inspire a fightback.
He sought to do so with a quadruple substitution, which included the dangerous Paulo Dybala, but before the Argentine could make an impact, Rafael Toloi had bundled in a rebound from a corner to double Atalanta’s lead.
Lorenzo Pellegrini pulled one back with seven minutes remaining, latching onto an expertly-placed backheel from Andrea Belotti before firing into the bottom right corner from 18 yards, but before Roma could mount a second charge, a mistake by Patricio killed off any chance of shared points in Bergamo.
The goalkeeper fumbled the ball in the penalty area, allowing Teun Koopmeiners to steal in and fire into an empty net, rounding off a calamitous night for his side.
With four points now the difference between fourth and seventh in Italy, it is game on in the race for continental football.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta)
