Atalanta registered their fourth successive Serie A victory by thrashing Venezia 4-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Mario Pasalic.
La Dea were entering the game at the back of a 1-0 victory over Juventus, their first in Turin since 1989. Gian Piero Gasperini made several changes to the XI with only four players from that fixture starting today. Hans Hateboer was making his first start of the season after returning from his foot injury.
Venezia manager Paolo Zanetti made three changes from their home defeat to Inter with Tanner Tessmann starting ahead of the injured Antonio Vacca while Thomas Henry and Dennis Johnsen were in the XI at the expense of Mattia Aramu and David Okereke.
The Lagunari started the game well and had a shot on the goal right at the beginning from Gianluca Busio. However, Atalanta instantly began to put pressure on the visitors’ backline with Pasalic taking a shot on goal. Minutes later, the Croatian found the net with a right-footed shot after making the most out of an assist from Josip Ilicic.
Just minutes later, Pasalic added a second, this time with his left-foot. Atalanta tried hard to extend their lead but were unable to get the end product. Venezia were kept on the back foot but they took a few shots on goal as well. However, they could not find the net either and the first half ended 2-0.
Atalanta started the second half strongly with Ilicic trying to find the net with a header. However, it was wide. Just minutes later, Hateboer had a very good chance to score but his shot was blocked. La Dea eventually found their third through the full-back’s compatriot Teun Koopmeiners who scored his very first goal for the club. The former AZ player found the net with a brilliant left-footed shot.
Atalanta found their fourth goal in the 67th minute after Luis Muriel got past the opposition defenders before passing to Pasalic, who scored to complete his second hat-trick for the club.
La Dea had a few chances to find the net but could not do so and the match eventually finished 4-0. Pasalic produced a magnificent performance and now has seven goals and five assists in 15 league appearances so far.
With the win, Atalanta remain fourth in the Serie A table, level on points with Inter. However, they could well be three points behind the Nerazzurri after the latter’s match against Spezia. Venezia remain 16th in the league standings with 15 points to their name.
Atalanta face a daunting task ahead as they take on table-toppers Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Venezia’s next fixture is at home against Verona.