Atalanta Bergamo remains the only undefeated team in Serie A, but recorded its seventh draw on matchday 9. The 1-1 draw is only of limited help to Milan.
The top of Serie A is really tight at the end of October. This made Milan’s away game at Atalanta Bergamo all the more important after their disappointing 2-2 draw with Pisa – especially as Napoli had managed a lackluster 1-0 win at bottom-of-the-table Lecce just minutes earlier. Apart from the undefeated FC Bayern, only Atalanta are still without defeat in the top five leagues – with two wins and six and seven draws respectively after this matchday. But initially, his team found themselves trailing: after a corner, Ahanor cleared the ball poorly in front of the penalty area, where Ricci simply shot. In the melee, Ederson deflected the ball quite unluckily, leaving Carnesecchi with no chance (4th minute).
Redemption for Lookman
However, Juric’s team showed the right response. Atalanta took complete control after going 0-1 down and worked hard to equalize. Ederson was denied by Maignan (21st minute) before the impressive center back Ahanor fired powerfully over the bar (27th minute). In the 35th minute, however, the fans finally had something to cheer about: Pasalic played the ball through to Lookman, who fired it into the near corner. It was the Nigerian’s first Serie A goal since mid-May and after his ultimately unsuccessful strike.
After an entertaining 45 minutes, Milan were still doing pretty well with the score at 1-1. That’s probably why Massimiliano Allegri adjusted his team accordingly in the dressing room for the second half. Former Leipzig player Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek came on quickly and gave the game a new dimension.
Nkunku also initiated Milan’s best chance after the break, but Fofana narrowly missed the target after a header from Bartesaghi (68′). The momentum then slowed down somewhat during the midweek fixtures, before Atalanta almost landed a lucky punch. However, Milan keeper Maignan denied Zappacosta’s powerful curling shot with a superb save (85′).
In the end, it remained a fair draw that didn’t really help either team. Milan are now three points behind Napoli, and Atalanta missed the chance to climb higher than sixth place in the table, at least temporarily.
