Atalanta Bergamo have earned an important victory against FC Empoli and defended their lead in the table. De Ketelaere was the match winner in the 3:2 win against the underdogs.
Because SSC Napoli won 2-1 in Genoa on Saturday, Atalanta Bergamo only went into the home game against Empoli in second place in the table, but had the chance to retake the top spot in the table directly. With former Schalke player Kolasinac and former Leverkusen player Kossounou in the starting lineup, however, the Nerazzurri got off to anything but a flying start
In the 13th minute, the underdogs made their first offensive appearance – and surprisingly took the lead: after a throw-in, Henderson set up Colombo, who scored from a central position to make it 1-0 to Empoli.
The in-form Nerazzurri, who had won ten league games in a row, shook themselves briefly and then went straight for the equalizer. In many phases, Bergamo pinned their opponent in their own half. Scoring chances were only a matter of time, even though Atalanta had trouble creating a large number of them.
Bergamo turn the game around
But in the 34th minute, it happened: Zappacosta’s cross landed at de Ketelaere, who headed into the left corner to equalize. Bergamo remained in contention and came close to taking a 2-1 lead on several occasions: Djimitsi headed the ball against the left post after a corner (41′), and Lookman did better a little later, putting the ball in the net after a pass from de Ketelaere (45’+1).
After the break, the game petered out a little. Atalanta continued to dominate, but lacked precision in front. This backfired when Djimsiti’s foul on Grassi resulted in a penalty for the visitors. Esposito kept his cool and scored in the middle to equalize (57′).
De Ketelaere has the last word
After that, it looked like it would be a 2-2 draw until De Ketelaere made his big appearance: in the 86th minute, the classy technician cut inside from the edge of the box, was unstoppable by several opponents, and scored a low, placed shot into the right corner. The winning goal in a hard-fought game that saw Atalanta move back into first place ahead of Napoli.