Atalanta, mission accomplished: Conference League berth secured
Atalanta’s priority in their away match in Hungary was to secure qualification for the Conference League. Mission accomplished. Once again, thanks to the usual standouts: Gianluca Scamacca, who came on and scored just seconds after replacing Krstovic, and Marco Carnesecchi, who was decisive with yet another spectacular save following his stop against Boateng in the first leg.
In the first half, Sarri’s tactical choices struggled to yield the desired results. Kolasinac struggled both in his matchup with Owusu and in linking up with Raspadori on the left flank. Krstovic, on the other hand, was often left isolated between Chico and Mayembo, in a situation that doesn’t seem to play to his strengths: waiting for the ball with his back to the goal is certainly not his forte. Bellanova also squandered too many chances. In fact, Atalanta’s best chance of the first half fell right at his feet: Zalewski opened up space for him on the right, but the pass intended for Krstovic was too soft and imprecise.
The first part of the second half slipped by without any real excitement. The only noteworthy incident was the one-minute penalty imposed on Toriel by referee Schlager, who applied the new rule on time-wasting during substitutions to the letter: Owusu took too long to leave the field. Then Sarri decided to make some substitutions. First, De Ketelaere and Pasalic came on for Raspadori and Samardzic, then Bernasconi and Scamacca replaced Kolasinac and Krstovic.
And it was this new duo that set up the go-ahead goal. Bernasconi sent in a ball that turned into a shot-cross, landing directly at Scamacca’s feet inside the box. The forward made no mistake, beating Tzur with a shot that went under the goalkeeper’s legs. The substitutions allowed Atalanta to stretch the field, though they didn’t really change the course of the game. Hapoel continued to press and came close to equalizing in the closing minutes.
At that point, once again, Carnesecchi stepped up. Following a corner kick, the Nerazzurri goalkeeper made another extraordinary save, deflecting a low, hard shot from the newly substituted Buskila onto the post. It was another decisive save, with ten minutes remaining, following the one he’d already made in the first leg. Atalanta can thus celebrate qualifying for the Conference League. The draw will take place on Friday.
