ROME: Atalanta kept hold of top spot in Serie A on Saturday after escaping Lazio with a 1-1 draw which kept Inter Milan at bay but ended their club-record league winning streak at 11 matches.
Marco Brescianini tapped home into an open goal with two minutes remaining to snatch a point from the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where a passionate crowd thought a big win was coming their way.
Instead Atalanta will end a historic year a point ahead of Inter, who have a game in hand, after the champions briefly drew level on points with a 3-0 win earlier at Cagliari.
Europa League holders Atalanta will lead the league even if Napoli beat Venezia and draw level on 41 points with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side who have a significantly better goal difference than the 2023 champions.
Should two teams finish level at the top of Serie A come the end of the season they will face off in a single match to decide the destination of the Scudetto, which Atalanta have never won.
“We struggled for long periods in the first half, but we were much better in the second,” said Atalanta coach Gasperini.
“This year has been the best year in Atalanta’s history, let’s hope we can make 2025 the same.”
Atalanta showed great character to battle back from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s 27th-minute goal which came in an intense opening period from Lazio.
The away side were initially blitzed by Lazio, with Marco Carnesecchi making two sensational stops before Matteo Guendouzi curled a great strike off the post in the 11th minute.
But as the match wore on, Atalanta, who were without injured star striker Mateo Retegui, grew into the game and deservedly drew level in front of a boisterous and hostile crowd in the Italian capital.
Brescianini netted his third goal of the season thanks largely to Ademola Lookman, who made up for earlier missing from yards out by beating Lazio’s offside trap, meeting Nicolo Zaniolo’s hooked pass and rolling across to his team-mate to salvage a precious point.
Next up, Atalanta travel to play the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, where they will face Inter on Thursday.
Earlier, Lautaro Martinez ended an eight-match scoring drought at Cagliari, netting the second in an engaging contest in Sardinia which Inter won with second-half goals from the Argentina striker, Alessandro Bastoni and Hakan Calhanoglu.
Inter have won their last five in Italy’s top flight, scoring 19 and conceding just once, a burst in form which has re-established Inter as favourites to retain the Scudetto.
The only thing missing for Inter were goals from captain Martinez, who hadn’t scored since Nov 3 before he prodded home Nicolo Barella’s cross in the 71st minute on Saturday.
“The most important thing is that Inter win. If I get a goal too, then that’s a bonus,” said Martinez.
“We work hard every day to win trophies and anyone who sets foot on the pitch will give their all for the team. We’ve just got to keep going and make 2025 like this year.”
Inter could have won by an even more convincing margin had captain Martinez not wasted great chances in each half and Cagliari goalkeeper Simone Scuffet not pulled off superb saves to deny Marcus Thuram and Barella.
But Martinez did net his seventh goal this season in all competitions and seven minutes later Calhanoglu made absolutely sure of the points from the penalty spot.
Cagliari are just inside the relegation zone after a fourth consecutive defeat for Davide Nicola’s side, a point behind Verona and Como who both play on Monday.
Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2024
