Genoa recorded an emphatic 4-1 victory over Atalanta at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from Leonardo Pavoletti, Andrea Bertolacci and Iago Falque gave the Grifone the win, while Mauracio Pinilla scored the home side’s solitary effort.
With Genoa still fighting for a Europa League spot and Atalanta not yet fully assured of safety, there was much to play for when these two sides met on a gloriously sunny afternoon in central Lombardy.
It was the visitors who started brightest when Maxime Lestienne and Leonardo Pavoletti combined well to test Marco Sportiello in only the third minute, but the Atalanta goalkeeper was able to get a hand to the effort and avert the danger.
Following that early scare for the hosts, both teams were fairly evenly match in the opening stages with Atalanta also creating an excellent goal scoring opportunity from a 12th minute free kick.
Controversy ensured shortly after when Nicholas Burdisso clearly punched the ball away inside his own box from another free kick and Andrea Gervasoni quite correctly pointed to spot. Mauricio Pinilla stepped up and the former Heart of Midlothian striker confidently slotted the ball into the bottom corner to give Atalanta the lead in the 18th minute.
However, it wasn’t long before Genoa struck back just before the half hour mark when Pavoletti rose highest in the box to connect with an Andrea Bertolacci cross to guide the ball into the bottom corner, this time leaving Sportiello with little chance of stopping it.
After the equaliser neither side looked particularly interested in pushing for another goal before half time and both teams went into the break level at one a piece.
The second half began in the same fashion as the first finished with both sides probing and testing but neither really going for the jugular with very few goal scoring chances created by either protagonist.
The break through did eventually arrive in the 56th minute when Bertolacci received the ball on the edge of the Atalanta box, and after ghosting past two La Dea defenders, the midfielder coolly finished off the move by placing the ball into the bottom corner, giving Genoa the lead for the first time in this match.
And after that goal the flood gates appeared to open as only a few minutes later Iago Falque got on the ball at the edge of the home side’s box, and after jinking inside, the little Spanish forward curled his shot around Sportiello to make it 3-1.
With their lead now firmly assured, Genoa did sit back slightly and allowed Atalanta to create a few chances of their own. However this was to be their eventual down fall as Genoa hit them on the break, with Falque scoring an almost identical copy of his earlier goal, cutting in from the right and curling the ball into the far corner.
With a three goal cushion, the visitors were happy to defend deep and see out the contest, finally recording an impressive 4-1 victory which was ultimately a little harsh on Atalanta who were not as bad as the scoreline would suggest.
