Atalanta passed 2-1 at the U-Power Stadium, but Monza came out with their heads held high, with the arithmetic salvation gained in the afternoon after the draw between Torino and Frosinone.
The Brianza team started off very strong, with Kyriakopoulos who came close to taking the lead in the 2nd minute, narrowly missing the winning shot from Zerbin’s cross from the right. After an all-red and white start, Atalanta showed up in the 8th minute with Kolasinac’s descent to the left, who found the usually reactive Di Gregorio in his way. A minute later cross from the right and header by Toure’, with the ball wide. Monza defends well and attacks with courage, as in the 31st minute when Zerbin calls upon Birindelli to shoot, who isn’t lucky with his right foot. In the 36th minute, a wild Zerbin comes back on the right and unloads a powerful shot, which is blocked by Carnesecchi; Colpani then misses the target with his left-footed shot. Monza believes in it and insists: in the 40th minute Gagliardini comes in quickly and shoots just wide with his right foot. Atalanta shows up again in the 41st minute, when Di Gregorio blocks De Ketelaere’s diagonal. The Belgian was luckier in the 44th minute when he headed a corner from the left to give Atalanta the lead.
The Nerazzurri tried to exploit the wave of enthusiasm after the goal at the start of the second half and in the 6th minute Di Gregorio blocked Lookman’s deflected right-footed shot. Palladino makes the first substitution in the 54th minute, bringing on Valentin Carboni and Monza immediately has an opportunity with Gagliardini, who emerges into the Nerazzurri area and comes close to making it 1-1 with a header. In the 65th minute Daniel Maldini also entered the red and whites who were looking for an equalizer with heart and courage. In the 69th minute Gagliardini stubbornly recovers a ball on the back line, Birindelli puts it in the middle and Pessina touches the top corner with his left foot. From a possible 1-1 we instead move on to Bergamo’s second goal in the 72nd minute with Touré, who scores with a right-footed shot from a few steps away, taking advantage of Lookman’s assist. Palladino makes a triple substitution in the 78th minute, sending Colombo, Caldirola and D’Ambrosio onto the field. The red and whites don’t give up and look for a goal to reopen the match. Maldini took care of finding him in the 89th minute with a great right-footed shot into the corner from outside the area. Palladino’s team believes in it and attacks until the end, stopping at the sensational post hit by Maldini with a delightful inside-right shot in the 96th minute.
Gasperini’s Atalanta wins 2-1, lucky in the final.
Monza, already arithmetically safe, will return to the pitch on Saturday 27 April at 3pm on the Lecce pitch
