Atalanta progressed to the next round of the Coppa Italia with a 2-0 victory over Avellino at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.
Richmond Boakye was the difference in Bergamo as his early brace put the Nerazzurri on easy street inside 20 minutes against the Serie B promotion chasers.
Both teams started nervously but it was the Serie A side who took the game by the scruff of the neck after 13 minutes.
Lionel Scaloni, making his first apperance of the season, rode a challenge before the 36-year-old half volleyed into the area. Boakye killed the ball before spinning on a sixpence to slot into Pierluigi Frattali’s bottom right corner from the 12 yards out.
The Ghanian – on loan from Juventus – then double his and Atalanta’s tally six minutes later through great link up play with strike partner Rolando Bianchi.
The former Torino striker volleyed a long diagonal ball back across goal to find Boakye, who repeated the trick to smash past Frattali for the second time. The 21-year-old now with as many goals as he’s managed in Serie A this season.
Avellino tried to mount a comeback in the second half but found 35-year-old Vlada Avramov unwilling to give up his clean sheet on his Atalanta debut with La Dea safely seeing the game out.
