Atalanta’s faint European hopes took yet another hit as the ‘Nerazzurri’ failed to beat Torino in a thrilling encounter at the Gewiss Stadium despite clinching a hard-earned point at the death. For the visitors, the 4-4 result does at least mean they are unbeaten in five of their last six away trips.
Arriving in Bergamo on the back of a four-game unbeaten run did Torino the world of good, as they took the lead in under five minutes. ‘Granata’ striker Antonio Sanabria netted the opener for the fifth time from his last six league strikes by slotting home a simple tap-in following a sublime counter-attack down the right flank.
Unbothered by the visitors’ advances, Atalanta kept their cool and soon found themselves in the lead with two quick-fire goals in the space of six minutes. Davide Zappacosta first won a penalty after being felled in the box, which Luis Muriel dispatched by sending goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić the wrong way, before the goalscorer turned provider for Marten De Roon’s spectacular first-time effort from a corner. A clumsy challenge by Remo Freuler then handed Torino a clear-cut penalty ten minutes before HT. Midfield maestro Saša Lukić made no mistake and drilled into the bottom right corner to level the scores despite shot-stopper Juan Musso guessing the direction right.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s men restarted proceedings as the stronger of the two sides, but soon fell victim to another reckless tackle in the penalty area, this time committed by defender Rafael Tolói shortly after the hour mark. Lukić again shouldered the burden, and coolly converted the spot-kick into the top-left corner, giving Musso no chance once more.
The evening only turned darker for the hosts and Freuler, who had previously handed Torino the first penalty. The Swiss international thumped in an unfortunate own-goal in the 68th minute, getting in the way of a cross and unintentionally giving Torino a fourth. However, Atalanta did not lie down, and reduced the deficit just ten minutes later by virtue of substitute Mario Pašalić’s impressive finish after being fed by Muriel’s lovely through ball. The match then witnessed its fourth penalty of the evening when Torino centre-back David Zima handled in the area, and Muriel showed nerves of steel to equalise for the second time.
Having headed into the clash with just one win from their last four games, Atalanta displayed resilience to steal a point off. Despite extending their unbeaten away H2H record to four games, Ivan Jurić’s Torino will be disappointed to have given up a two-goal lead.
