Hellas Verona defeated Atalanta 2-1 at the Stadio Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo on Saturday afternoon.
Massimo Donati gave the Gialloblu the lead early in the second half before Luca Toni doubled the vistors’ lead. Atalanta got a goal of their own late on in the game through captain German Denis but it only proved to be a consolation strike.
Atalanta hit the target 15 minutes in when German Denis laid the ball off to Carlos Carmona who hit the ball from distance but it was handled by Rafael.
Verona were then at the centre of danger minutes later when Juan Iturbe’s cross was saved by Andrea Consigli, before Toni missed a chance from point-blank range to keep the score deadlocked at 0-0.
The Scaligeri could’ve went 1-0 up after a smart move between Marquinho and Iturbe, but the latter’s finish was saved by Consigli. Verona continued their attacking onslaught when Toni’s attempted volley was blocked by Constantin Nica.
Dea coach Stefano Colantuono made a change seven minutes into the second half, taking off Marko Livaja and introducing Maximiliano Moralez. The youngster was so angry at the change that he even got into a heated argument with some of the fans.
The away side took the lead seconds after the argument when Donati controlled theball onto his chest and volleyed into the top corner to give the Gialloblu the 1-0 lead with a sumptuous goal.
The Mastini could’ve doubled their lead on the counter when Iturbe slotted the ball to Marquinho but he had his finish denied by an attentive Consigli. Iturbe would follow that up with his own chance to make it 2-0 but his attempted chip over Consigli was cleared by the Atalanta defence.
It was Verona who got the second goal of the game when Iturbe went through on goal from the right-hand side and played the ball across the face of goal for Toni as he doubled the away side’s tally to make it 2-0.
Denis pulled one back for the Nerazzurri with three minutes remaining when he latched onto Moralez’s header to acrobatically finish past Rafael and make it 2-1.
La Dea could’ve completed a memorable comeback when Luca Cigarini unleashed a driven shot from distance which was saved by Rafael, but the ball fell to Moralez who failed to hit the target – much to the Atalanta faithful’s dismay.
