Champions League, Atalanta goes through Marseille: Samardzic in goal as time expires
Atalanta returned to victory after more than a month, winning 1-0 at home to Marseille on the fourth day of the main stage of the Champions League. A result accrued only in the final but legitimized by an excellent overall performance that saw the Orobici waste several chances, however, including a penalty during the first half.
The Nerazzurri started off strong right away, but failed to take advantage on 6′ of a mistake by opposing goalkeeper Rulli that freed Lookman in front of the goal: the Nigerian national missed the moment and the action faded. On 13′ Lookman again serves Krstovic in the box, the Montenegrin is knocked down by Rulli and the referee awards the penalty. From the penalty spot goes De Ketelaere, who, however, gets hypnotized by Roberto De Zerbi’s team’s extreme defender. Again Krstovic, at 35′, has on his feet from a good position the good ball for the 1-0, but his conclusion is to forget.
In the second half, the plot of the match does not change, with Atalanta letting itself be preferred and Marseille not stinging as much. The turning point seems to come at 69′: De Ketelaere serves the advancing Bellanova, the latter puts in the center where Krstovic does not arrive but Lookman, with the goal practically unguarded, does. It seems to be the Nerazzurri’s 1-0, but from the VAR room they confirm that Krstovic, who had actively participated in the action, was narrowly offside: goal disallowed.
When the possibility of a white-net draw was becoming almost certain, on 90′ came the goal that decided the Velodrome challenge in favor of Atalanta: on the development of an action that started from a suspicious touch by Ederson in his own area, Samardzic invented a beautifully crafted left-footer that flew past Rulli and put Juric’s men ahead. Ederson’s touch is verified at VAR: there is no hand foul, the goal is valid.
The triple whistle of Spanish referee Sanchez thus seals the second win of the season in Europe for the Nerazzurri (and the first, including the league, since September 30), who thus rise to 7 in the standings with four matches still to play.
