Game 18, Serie A Saturday, December 28, 2024
Lazio-Atalanta 1-1
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio go extremely close to defeating eleven league match winning Atalanta but in the end the draw is a fair result
The teams
A crowd of about 50,000 were present to see Lazio take on the league leaders. Lazio played in their traditional light blue shirts while the visitors played in yellow with a black and blue stripe across the chest.
Lazio had several absences due to injury. Manuel Lazzari in defence and Matías Vecino in midfield plus forwards Tijjani Noslin and Pedro.
Lazio played in a 4-2-3-1 formation. In defence Baroni decided to play Adam Marusic at right back, Alessandro Romagnoli and Mario Gila in the middle with Nuno Tavares on the left. In midfield the choices were limited so regulars Niccolò Rovella and Matteo Guendouzi kept their places. There were a few surprises further forward as Loum Tchaouna and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru were preferred to Boulaye Dia and Gustav Isaksen, to play alongside Mattia Zaccagni and behind centre forward Taty Castellanos.
Atalanta came to Rome on the back of eleven consecutive league wins and were on a real high. In the early evening Inter had won in Cagliari and temporarily conquered the top of the table on goal difference but Atalanta had the chance to immediately snatch it back from the Milanese Nerazzurri. The Dea had one recent injury, forward Mateo Retegui and one long term, forward Gianluca Scamacca. Otherwise the Bergamaschi played their best line-up, in a 3-4-1-2 setup.
First half
Lazio started well and looked like Atalanta in disguise. The Biancocelesti were quick, sharp and reconquered possession immediately.
In the 10th minute Loum Tchaouna surged forward and teed up Taty Castellanos who hit it first time from the edge of the box but Marco Carnesecchi parried, the ball came back to the Argentine who tried again but this time the keeper stuck out a leg and prevented the ball going into the bottom left hand corner. The move was not over however and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru passed to Matteo Guendouzi who struck a wonderful curling right foot which this time beat the keeper but came back off the left post. Three chances in ten seconds but no breakthrough.
Nicolò Rovella then had a long range effort but the Nerazzuro keeper saved comfortably.
Lazio were still on top but in the 20th minute Atalanta had their first chance when Davide Zappacosta, following a couple of poor clearances by Lazio's defence, hit a crisp low shot which shaved the left post.
Rovella then tried his luck again but this time pulled his low shot well wide.
In the 27th minute Lazio went in front. Castellanos worked a ball well in midfield and then Nicolò Ravella lobbed a perfect ball over the visitors' backline and Dele-Bashiru sprinted forward unmarked and from just inside the box smashed the ball past Carnesecchi. Lazio 1 Atalanta 0. A deserved lead for the Biancocelesti.
Lazio continued to control the proceedings and ran few risks at the back. In the 42nd minute a Tchaouna effort failed to find the target.
In the second minute of injury time De Ketelaere headed towards goal but Djimsiti was unable to get a decent touch on the far post and the ball went just wide.
Half time came with Lazio in front. The Romans had more or less dominated the first half. They had not been queuing up to score but had played better and with more determination, winning most of the individual battles and could be more than pleased with their performance so far.
Second half
For the second 45 minutes Gasperini took off defender Isak Hien, who was already on a yellow card and put on Odilon Kossounou, as well as midfielder Juan Cuadrado for Zappacosta.
Lazio had less choices on the bench, numerically half those of the visitors, and for now continued with the same line-up.
Things immediately looked different after the break as the Dea started to put more pressure on Lazio.
In the 53rd minute a good cross from the right by Raoul Bellanova found Cuadrado on the far post but his header went just wide.
In the 56th minute the Nerazzurri put more fresh legs on and took off Mario Pasalic for talented Lazar Samardzic.
In the 60th minute Bellanova swung in another good cross but this time it was Ademola Lookman whose header flew just past the right post. A minute later Lookman got a good curling shot in but Provedel was safe and tipped it out for a corner.
In the 62nd minute Baroni, obviously seeing Lazio tiring, brought on Gustav Isaksen for Tchaouna and Luca Pellegrini for Nuno Tavares. Two minutes later Atalanta responded by throwing on Nicolò Zaniolo for a subdued Charles De Ketelaere. Zaniolo is in the unenviable situation of now being hated on both sides of the Tiber after his recent goal and celebration against former club Roma.
In the 70th minute Lazio took off a tired and booked Mattia Zaccagni and put on Boulaye Dia.
The Senegalese forward immediately had a colossal opportunity to double the Romans' lead. From a Castellanos cross from the left, Dia found himself unmarked in front of goal but sliced the seemingly easy volley thus also cutting out Dele-Bashiru behind him.
By now Atalanta had overturned the possession stats which had been in Lazio's favour in the first half and were almost constantly in Lazio's half. In the 72nd minute Lookman's low drive whistled less than a metre out to Provedel's right.
In the 76th minute the Dea had a huge chance to equalise. From a Cuadrado corner to the far post, Lookman's first close range touch was saved on the line by Pellegrini while his second attempt hit the post and then Provedel gathered.
In the 78th minute Lazio had a rare counter foot but Dia shot when he could possibly have done better to pass to an unmarked Castellanos and Carnesecchi parried.
More substitutions came in the 84th minute; Gaetano Castrovilli for Castellanos for the home side and Marco Brescianini for Sead Kolasinac for the visitors.
Just as Lazio seemed to have weathered the worst of Atalanta's pressure, the Nerazzurri scored. In the 88th minute from the edge of the box Zaniolo hooked a ball back into the left of the area where Lookman darted forward, beating the offside trap, and squared an easy low ball across, cutting out Provedel, which Brescianini tapped into the open goal. Lazio 1 Atalanta 1. A fortuitous build up but a deserved equaliser.
The referee then gave four minutes of additional time in which Atalanta tried to win it but, apart from a Cuadrado shot off target, were not able to really threaten again. Final score Lazio 1 Atalanta 1.
All in all a fair result. Lazio had been excellent in the first half but Atalanta had responded strongly in the second. In the long run Lazio paid for their lack of alternatives on the bench while Atalanta had far more strength in depth.
Lazio came out head high against the league leaders. The Biancocelesti would have signed for a point before the game but obviously going so close to a win and being denied in the dying minutes was a little disappointing. Lazio however had got back their fighting spirit and denied a rampant Atalanta their 12th consecutive win. Next up for Lazio is the derby...
Who played for Lazio
Provedel, Marušic, Tavares (63' Pellegrini), Romagnoli, Rovella, Guendouzi, Tchaouna (62' Isaksen), Dele-Bashiru, Zaccagni (70' Dia), Castellanos (84' Castrovilli)
Substitutes: Mandas, Furlanetto, Gigot
Manager: Baroni
Who played for Atalanta
Carnesecchi, Djimsiti, Kolašinac (84' Brescianini), Hien (46' Kossounou), Bellanova, De Roon, Éderson, Zappacosta (46' Cuadrado), Pašalić (56'Samardžić), De Ketelaere (65' Zaniolo), Lookman
Substitutes: Rui Patricio, Rossi, Toloi, Godfrey, Palestra, Scalvini, Sulemana, Vlahović
Manager: Gasperini
Referee: Massa
Goals: 27' Dele-Bashiru, 88' Brescianini
Bookings: Hien (A), Zaccagni (L), Rovella (L), Lookman (A)
Comments