Portuguese ahead with Paulinho in the 17th minute, the Bergamo attacker equalized in the 37th minute. But Atalanta, in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16, has a lot to complain about
It ends 1-1 between Sporting and Atalanta in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16. Paulinho and Scamacca set the score, but the Dea won 3-1 in goal plus a goal disallowed for offside by Touré.
LAMPO SPORTING
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Compared to the day before, Gasperini chooses Hien and not Scalvini in defense; for the rest, Scamacca is the central striker to give a turning point to the offensive department. Sporting appears without striker Gyokeres at the center of the attack and without Hjulmand in the middle of the pitch (debut from the 1st minute for Koindredi, born in 2001 in Djibouti to a family from New Caledonia and has a French passport). Sporting’s first signal in the 7th minute. Edwards walks the entire left side of Atalanta, goes almost to the back near the goal and crosses backwards where he finds a Nerazzurri player and not a teammate. After ten minutes Sporting passes. The Portuguese come out very well under the Bergamo pressure at the edge of the area. Trincao finds himself all alone with dozens of meters in front, he carries the ball until he serves Paulinho on the run to the left cutting off Holm, control and precise diagonal to the far post. Amorim’s team puts its nose forward. Holm wakes up Atalanta in the 24th minute: he runs down the right, comes back and shoots flat to the long post. He hits it and the ball ends up on the bottom returning towards the field with a mocking trajectory. Building from the ground up can become an obsession for Amorim. In the 26th minute it is clear: goalkeeper Israel serves his teammate with his back to the goal without seeing Ederson’s pressure, the Brazilian anticipates him by serving Scamacca who returns the ball to him but one step away from kicking on goal Ederson himself is anticipated by Israel same in low output. Atalanta grows and the game benefits from it. In the 30th minute the Portuguese defense blocked a corner kick short and De Roon’s shot was lifted onto the crossbar by Israel. Sporting are surrounded and Amorim’s directives change when they start from the back: long ball and away without building from the bottom. The equalizer came in the 39th minute. Quaresma eases the ball too slowly towards Israel, Lookman launches himself in pursuit of the ball annoying Israel, the ball reaches Miranchuk who with an empty net has the coolness to wait and serve Scamacca who first pretends to kick with his right foot and then puts his left foot into the corner in a situation that has become not so simple. Draw sought, deserved, built with patience. Scamacca is “on fire” and in the 42nd minute from a corner he turns towards the goal finding Israel quick to deflect it into a corner. The first half ends 1-1 with a clear improvement for Atalanta.
ATALANTA SUPERIORITY
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We start again with three changes in Sporting, a symptom of Amorim’s discomfort. Inside the striker Gyokeres (32 goals of the season), Hjulmand as director and St. Juste in defense. It remains 3-4-3, but with more certainties in the direction of play and in the center forward role (Paulinho moves to right wing). The first minutes of the second half saw Sporting with a very different soul compared to the first half. In the 7th minute Catamo shoots centrally after a run down the right, as if Edwards’ exit had freed him. Atalanta’s third post arrives in the 15th minute. Lookman invents a prestige trick to bypass the opponent and enter the area, a touch to center himself and with his right foot he kicks hard, hitting the near post. There is also a post for Sporting in the 17th minute: Trincao’s cross from the right, Coates heads higher than anyone and hits the post with Musso now stopped. In the 30th minute we return to play on the goalkeepers’ side. From a free kick on the right comes an interesting ball to the head of Kolasinac who all alone misses the target from the small area. The end of the match shows Sporting almost afraid of conceding the second goal. Atalanta are very lively and the arrivals of Koopmeiners, De Ketelaere and Touré leave little room for Portuguese confidence. 4′ from the end the Dea would take the lead with a spectacular overhead kick by Touré who started on the edge of offside. The attacker anticipates Israel, the ball rears up and he puts it in with an overhead kick. It would be a goal, because the VAR cancels the Atalanta number 10 for offside. It ends 1-1, everything to play for next week in Bergamo to reach the quarterfinals. With the feeling that this Atalanta deserved more at Alvalade.
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