Europa: Djimsiti marks his 200th appearance as Atalanta sail through
Berat Djimsiti marked his 200th appearance in the Atalanta jersey with a goal to beat Sturm Graz and qualify for the Europa League knockout phase, almost guaranteeing first place too.
La Dea were still smarting after fumbling the lead in Austria against 10 men for a 2-2 draw, but remained three points clear at the top of the group. Charles De Ketelaere, Giorgio Scalvini, Matteo Ruggeri, Jose Luis Palomino and El Bilal Toure were injured. Stefan Hierlander sat out a ban, with Seedy Jatta and Otar Kiteishvili carrying muscular issues.
Ederson knocked down a free kick for Rafael Toloi to balloon over the bar from 12 yards, while a crucial defensive interception prevented the Ademola Lookman roll across from reaching Gianluca Scamacca for the tap-in.
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Sturm Graz striker Szymon Wlodarczyk flashed an angled drive across the face of goal when on the absolute verge of the offside trap.
Dimitri Lavalee couldn’t keep the difficult volley down from outside the box, while after the restart Lookman drilled just wide of the near post.
Atalanta finally got the breakthrough after a chaotic corner with attempts charged down repeatedly until Djimsiti managed to turn in with the aid of a deflection. It was a great way to mark his 200th appearance for the club.
Teun Koopmeiners went on a strong run and pulled back for Lookman, whose finish was charged down, though Tomi Horvat also blasted off target from distance.
Luis Muriel’s first touch let him down on a long Ederson ball, but Mario Pasalic missed an astonishing opportunity to kill the game on 70 minutes. Hans Hateboer got down the right and rolled across for the easy tap-in, which the Croatian somehow steered wide from six yards.
Muriel took a free kick short for Koopmeiners, whose daisy-cutter was deflected inches wide, while the goalkeeper rushed out to deny Ederson and Jusuf Gazibegovic made the sliding block on Pasalic’s finish when sent clear by Muriel.
Pasalic thought he had scored in stoppages after a sensational give and go with Aleksei Miranchuk, but was denied by the stunning Kjell Scherpen fingertip save.
Sporting CP beat Rakow 2-1 and climb to second place on seven points, three adrift of leaders Atalanta.