Chievo beat Atalanta 1-0 at the Stadio Bentegodi on Sunday afternoon in Serie A, with the the visitors ending the game with nine men.
The first half was very tactical, with only Valter Birsa for the hosts and Alejandro Gomez for the visitors trying to break the balance. It happened when Nicola Cherubin headbutted Alberto Paloschi in his box, being sent off and causing a penalty that was miraculously saved by Marco Sportiello. Chievo managed to get a goal anyway, with Birsa scoring.
The game was very blocked from the start, with both teams being tactically efficient and defensive, with the Chievo full backs pressing high on the Atalanta attacking wingers.
The whole first half saw very few chances, with a Gomez shot from just out of the box over the bar that was the best scoring opportunity in the first 45 minutes.
The second half started in a similar way, with Chievo slightly the better side and it was a crazy moment by Cherubin which changed things completely in favour of Chievo on 66 minutes.
The Atalanta defender lost his mind and headbutted Paloschi in the box, making it a straight red card and a clear penalty.
Sportiello was fantastic in saving Atalanta from conceding, but on 76 minutes, Chievo’s best player, Birsa, made it 1-0 for the hosts blasting home a Riccardo Meggiorini assist from close range.
Four minutes later Roberto Inglese went close to making it 2-0 but shot over the bar from a good position.
To make things worse for Atalanta, Jasmin Kurtic got booked for a foul and decided to get himself sent off by ironically clapping to the referee and ending his game two minutes earlier.
Atalanta stay with 24 points and slow down in their march towards the higher parts of the table, whilst Chievo jump to 22 and lift themselves further away from the relegation battle.
