Atalanta Scare Inter as Conte Is Saved by Handanovic

Inter genuinely got a break on Saturday night against an awesome Atalanta side. The Nerazzurri snatched one point only and, now sitting at 46 in the table, risk being overtaken by Maurizio Sarri’s Juventus for the ephemeral title of Campione d’Inverno (Winter Champions) – which however usually gives a pretty good indication about who’s still going to be on top at the end of the run.

The game at the San Siro ended 1-1 in a crescendo of emotions: Antonio Conte’s Nerazzurri played a thundering first half, but Gian Piero Gasperini’s Bergamaschi seem to have endless energies and never lower their heads. Lautaro Martinez signed Inter’s 1-0 but was spared by referee Gianluca Rocchi and the VAR who failed to catch a penalty foul on his part which would have deserved a red card.

Gasperini’s squad managed to come back to give the home side a pretty good scare as Robin Gosens equalized and even risked wrapping a sensational away win – hadn’t it been for Samir Handanovic’s stop on a penalty by Luis Muriel.

The battle at the San Siro promised much entertainment, and expectations were met pretty fast: It took only 23 seconds for Romelu Lukaku to free himself from his marker and hit Pierluigi Gollini’s post, though being in offside. Three minutes later, Inter put their heads ahead: Stefano Sensi served Lautaro Martinez, who exchanged with his striking partner, then mercilessly fired the ball past Atalanta’s goalie. It was the 10th seasonal goal for El Toro and another beautiful sample of the LuLa partnership.

Inter built on their advantage, and defenders José Luis Palomino and Rafael Toloi had to go above and beyond to keep their assaults under control. Atalanta didn’t renounce to attack, however: In the 9th minute, Mario Pasalic managed to shot from out of the box, but missed the target. Duvan Zapata challenged Samir Handanovic twice with two headers but found the goalie’s gloves on both occasions.

Atalanta kept more control of the ball, ending the first half with a crushing 63% predominance, but Antonio Conte’s men were more concrete: Stefano Sensi showed how much his presence was missed in the past months, and the LuLa duets kept the pressure high on La Dea’s defenders. In the 22nd minute, Lautaro managed to dribble Gollini, but his shot was eventually cleared by José Luis Palomino. Two minutes later, another exchange between Lukaku and Lautaro put the Belgian in condition to shot. His conclusion was weak, however, and Atalanta’s keeper had no problems blocking it.

Atalanta’s captain Alejandro Gomez makes his way through multiple Nerazzurri opponents

In the 40th minute, along came the key episode of the night: Samir Handanovic parried back a header by Rafael Toloi, and the Brazilian surprisingly failed to tap the ball in from point-blank range. Referee Gianluca Rocchi checked the VAR and awarded a corner to the Bergamaschi: A wrong call because replays evidenced that, while falling, Lautaro Martinez grabbed Toloi’s ankle with his hand and pushed him down. The tackle was worth a penalty, and perhaps even a direct red card for El Toro.

The second half unfolded with the same script as Atalanta seemed to have more fuel in the tank than the more famous Nerazzurri. Alejandro Gomez progressed on the left flank and served Ruslan Malinovskyi – who had just replaced Duvan Zapata – whose shot hit the post. Gasperini wasn’t having it and also threw Luis Muriel in the mix, whereas Conte substituted exhausted Stefano Sensi with Borja Valero. 

Atalanta’s equalizer finally came in the 75th minute, when Robin Gosens exploited Antonio Candreva’s inattention to finish from a cross by Josep Ilicic. Was it over? No way. The Bergamaschi wanted the three points, well-supported by their 3000 fans who made it to the San Siro.

They indeed went pretty close to make it, as with just three minutes to go, Ruslan Malinovskyi was pushed down in the area by Alessandro Bastoni. Rocchi allowed a penalty this time, but super-Samir Handanovic pushed back Luis Muriel’s attempt and saved Antonio Conte’s side.

It ended with one point each but, gentlemen, this Atalanta side really doesn’t want to stop surprising!



MATCH REPORT

January 11, 2020 – Serie A 2019-2020 Round 19
INTER-ATALANTA 1-1

SCORERS: 4′ Lautaro Martinez (I), 75′ Gosens (A)

INTER (3-5-2): Handanovic; Godin, de Vrij, Bastoni; Candreva, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Sensi (70′ Borja Valero), Biraghi; Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez (79′ Politano) (Padelli, Berni, Sanchez, Vecino, Ranocchia, Lazaro, Dimarco, Esposito, Pirola, Agoume) Coach: Conte
ATALANTA (3-4-1-2): Gollini; Toloi, Palomino, Djimsiti; Hateboer, de Roon, Pasalic (69′ Muriel), Gosens (90′ Castagne); Gomez; Ilicic, Zapata (51′ Malinovskyi) (Rossi, Sportiello, Masiello, Freuler, Piccoli, Da Riva, Okoli, Traore, Heidenreich) Coach: Gasperini

REFEREE: Mr. Rocchi from Florence
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Sensi, Godin (I), Hateboer, de Roon, Palomino (A); Extra Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 4′