May 03, (THEWILL) – Atalanta overcame a number of injuries to secure a 3-2 victory over struggling Spezia, with the win putting them back in the race for a top-four finish.
Despite being without key players Ademola Lookman, Matteo Ruggeri, Hans Hateboer, and Marco Sportiello, and losing Rasmus Hojlund to injury in the warm-up, Atalanta pushed forward relentlessly. Similarly, Spezia was decimated by the absence of several players, including M’Bala Nzola, Daniel Maldini, Emil Holm, Szymon Zurkowski, and Joao Moutinho.
The visitors took a surprise lead when Emmanuel Gyasi scored after Simone Bastoni’s through ball took a deflection. However, Atalanta quickly took control of the game, with Marten de Roon’s stunning volley from outside the box the standout moment of the match.
Davide Zappacosta and Luis Muriel then added two more goals to Atalanta’s tally, but Spezia managed to pull one back when Eldor Shomurodov intercepted De Roon’s pass and set up Medhi Bourabia for a simple finish.
The victory lifts Atalanta temporarily to fourth place in the Serie A table, one point above the trio of Inter Milan, AC Milan and Roma, who are all level on 57 points and have a game in hand. Spezia, on the other hand, remains in the relegation zone on head-to-head 27 points with Verona. Atalanta’s next match is against Juventus on Sunday, while Spezia will face Cremonese on Saturday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
