The Serie A Monday afternoon match at the U-Power Stadium ended with no surprises as Atalanta took all three points on offer in Monza to remain alone at the top of the Serie A table. After a goalless first half, the Bergamaschi made a difference with a Rasmus Hojlund goal and an own goal by Marlon.
Gian Piero Gasperini and his boys collected their fourth win out of five games while Giovanni Stroppa’s Biancorossi are yet to record a single point in their maiden Serie A campaign. Things are getting though for the Monza coach.
Gasperini couldn’t count on his starting strikers Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel and thus gave the whole front line responsibility to 19-year-old Holjund – who promptly repaid his coach’s trust. Stroppa’s attacking duo consisted of Gianluca Caprari and Dany Mota, who was preferred to Andrea Petagna.
The Biancorossi‘s start was encouraging as Caprari drew a difficult save from Juan Musso just two minutes after kick off. It was followed by a Carlos Augusto shot that was blocked by Merih Demiral. On four minutes, Stefano Sensi called Musso to action again.
That was all Monza could do though, as Atalanta soon organized themselves and prevented any further danger. The first half recorded no more chances on either side.
Gasperini sent in Brandon Soppy after the restart, replacing Davide Zappacosta, and that proved to be a wise move. After a couple of fine saves on the part of Michele Di Gregorio, Atalanta scored their first thanks to a Soppy cross that was finalized by Holjund.
On 65 minutes, a quick combination between Ederson and Ademola Lookman propitiated Marlon’s unlucky deflection into his own net that doubled the lead for the Bergamaschi and basically put an end to the game.
Few would have predicted that Atalanta were going to lead the table alone after five games, but here they are. As for Monza, the Serie A is proving a tougher competition that veteran president Silvio Berlusconi and CEO Adriano Galliani thought.
MATCH SCORECARD
September 5, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 5
MONZA – ATALANTA 0-2
SCORERS: 58′ Hojlund, 65′ Marlon o.g.
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MONZA (3-5-2): Di Gregorio; Marlon, Pablo Marí, Caldirola (86′ Izzo); Birindelli (77′ Molina), Pessina, Rovella, Sensi (77′ Colpani), Carlos Augusto; Caprari (70′ Petagna), Dany Mota (87′ Gytkjaer) (Cragno, Machin, Barberis, Valoti, F. Ranocchia, Antov, Marrone, Bondo, S. Vignato, Ciurria) Coach: Stroppa |
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ATALANTA (4-2-3-1): Musso; Hateboer, Toloi, Demiral, Zappacosta (46′ Soppy); De Roon, Koopmeiners; Lookman (88′ Boga), Ederson (76′ Maehle), Malinovskyi (71′ Scalvini); Højlund (71′ Pasalic) (Sportiello, Rossi; Okoli, Ruggeri, Zortea, Boga) Coach: Gasperini |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Rovella (M), Scalvini (A); Added Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 4′
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