Just like one year ago, a lone goal by Teun Koopmeiners helped Atalanta beat Verona at the Marc’Antonio Bentegodi Stadium. La Dea thus moved to the top of the Serie A table, reaching five other teams at seven points as they wait for Napoli to take on Fiorentina tonight.
Gian Piero Gasperini can be happy with maximizing the output of his weekly test despite his side still appearing far from their best shape. Verona, on the other hand, continued to show some encouraging improvements compared to their first disastrous outing two weeks ago, even though the Scaligeri have still to win one game this season.
Verona had the upper hand in a lackluster first half but failed to convert their only two chances – first with Kevin Lasagna and then with Ivan Ilic. Both attempts sailed off target. Atalanta’s only shot in the first half came right before the break as Ademola Lookman called Lorenzo Montipó to action and found him equal to the task.
Gasperini substituted the Nigerian winger, together with Brandon Soppy, right after the restart to inject fresh forces into his lineup. Ederson and Luis Muriel took their place. It was, however, Koopmeiners to soon take advantage of one of the rare defensive mistakes made by Gabriele Cioffi’s side to break the deadlock with a fine left-foot shot.
Verona had a reaction but their efforts didn’t produce more than a shot from Darko Lazovic that hit the crossbar and another late challenge from the Serbian that forced Montipó to dirt his gloves one more time.
It’s been an unexpected start of the season for Atalanta, who find themselves in the top spot of the table despite having scored “only” four goals in three games.
The Bergamaschi now have a home game in hand, to be played on Thursday against Torino, to try to maintain their status. Verona, on the other hand, will travel to Empoli to look for their first win of the campaign.
MATCH SCORECARD
August 28, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 3
VERONA – ATALANTA 0-1
SCORER: 50′ Koopmeiners
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VERONA (3-5-2): Montipò; Coppola, Gunter, Ceccherini (65′ Hien); Terracciano (84′ Doig), Ilic, Veloso (52′ Hongla), Tameze (84′ Cortinovis), Lazovic; Lasagna, Henry (84′ Djuric) (Berardi, Perilli, Amione, Dawidowicz, Praszelik, Kallon, Cabal, Retsos, Sulemana) Coach: Cioffi |
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ATALANTA (3-4-1-2): Musso, Toloi, Demiral, Okoli, Hateboer (65′ Zortea), de Roon, Koopmeiners, Soppy (45′ Ederson), Malinovskyi (65′ Boga), Lookman (45′ Muriel), Zapata (89′ Mahele) (Rossi, Sportiello, Højlund, Ruggeri, Scalvini, Pašalić) Coach: Gasperini |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Ceccherini, Hien (V), Soppy, Gasperini, Koopmeiners, Malinovskyi (A); Added Time: First Half 0′, 2nd Half 5′
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