Atalanta Back in the Big Time, Same Old Story for Genoa

Date: 15th September 2011 at 9:47pm
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A share of the spoils in what could be described as disappointment on both sides. Genoa started brightly dominating the first six minutes of play, and scoring on a strike from midfielder Miguel Veloso from about 20-yards. Rodrigo Palacio teed him and was the best player early on for Genoa, though he would tire during the match he was still the most dangerous Genoa player for large parts of the game.

Following the Genoa goal the game turned 180-degrees and over the next 49 minutes was all Atalanta. Almost immediately after scoring Genoa was pegged back and had their backs against the wall. Maximiliano Moralez had the teams on level terms two minutes later before putting the visitors ahead right before halftime. Moralez was man of the match in this one, and looked extremely sharp; however, credit must go to German Denis for setting up the second goal flicking the ball from the left side of the defender to the right side and sending a through ball to Moralez as he went to ground. Denis was all over the pitch on the day and had numerous opportunities to extend the Atalanta lead, but missed wide on at least two occasions; while Genoa new-boy Sebestien Frey made some key saves to key Il Grifone in the match.

For 49 minutes Genoa looked like a different team than the one who had started the match. Errant passes, terrible marking and tactical stagnation allowed Le Dea to control the game. However, Atalanta would finally let their guard down and Genoa would get the equalizer against the run of play. Atalanta was unable to clear their lines and right back Giandmenico Mesto pounced on the ball sending it into the back of the net.

Genoa would re-assert themselves in the match until the end as two substitutes were introduced: Andrea Caracciolo for the ineffective Lucas Pratto and Felipe Seymour for Kevin Constant. Constant had a good start to the game, though isolated on the left hand side he drifted out of the game at times. Il Rossoblu came out in a 4-4-2 formation, playing with two wide man that hugged the touch line for the most part; very old school. However, this isolated not only the wings, but the two central midfielders Veloso and Juraj Kucka who had some difficulty finding outlets to pass to. More than once the back four would by-pass the midfield and send a ball to the front men to chase.

Late on Genoa’s Kucka would be sent off for a professional foul on Denis as the Atalanta man broke down field. Atalanta still had a chance to win the match against the 10-men of Genoa. A late ball into the box was just cleared by the Genoa defense as Denis only got a glancing touch on the ball. Denis had several opportunities on his own to kill the game off, but couldn’t put the finishing touches on each move. Definitely a point gained for Genoa and two points lost for Atalanta.

Genoa’s tactics lacked creativity on the day, and even the introduction of another new signing Valter Birsa could do little to help as he never synchronized into the game’s temp. Caricciolo looked sharp once introduced, and would have been a much better partner to Palacio than Pratto. Atalanta on the other hand looked great, and could definitely over turn their six point deduction. Staying in Serie A is another matter, however, if they continue playing like this and can kill off a match they have every chance of a second season in Serie A.

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