Atalanta defeated Cagliari 2-1 at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in a relegation-zone battle on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Giuseppe Biava netted inside the opening 20 minutes from a free header before Daniele Dessena equalized at the end of the first half with a typical poacher’s effort. Mauricio Pinilla won the game with a spectacular acrobatic volley deep into added time to win the match for the Nerazzurri.
In a battle at the bottom it was Atalanta who made the better start, earning two corners in the opening exchanges, forcing Cagliari to defend on the edge of their own area.
It took until over the quarter of an hour mark for the first shot on goal to be registered but it would result in the game’s opening goal. A dreadful Atalanta freekick fell back to the feet of Cristiano Del Grosso, who’s whipped in ball found an unmarked Biava to head home and give the Dea the lead.
The goal sparked the drab start of the match into life with Cagliari gaining their first shot on goal shortly after but Samuele Longo’s effort was well saved by Marco Sportiello.
Another Atalanta corner followed, with Carlos Carmona heading just over Zeljko Brkic’s goal with the six-pointer beginning to come to fruition.
Stefano Colantuono’s men nearly doubled their lead when Davide Zappacosta got on the end of a deep cross but was only able to direct his header in the side-netting.
The half closed out with Cagliari having the best chance and then netting the equalizer. Godfred Donsah’s effort forced a good stop from Sportiello leading to the corner that secured the leveller. Dessena seizing upon Del Grosso’s failure to clear by stabbing home the loose ball.
Atalanta started the second half as they began the first, pinning Gianfranco Zola’s team back with a gluttony of crosses, peppering the Rossoblu’s penalty area.
A glorious chance fell to the visitors, however when Joao Pedro had a clear sight of goal his effort glanced the post and went harmlessly wide.
Pinilla attempted to get the home support up for the fight, forcing Brkic into a fine save after a weaving run found himself in the opposition’s area.
The match continued to be open but with few chances as the clock ticked over to the hour mark. Diego Farias saw his strike comfortably dealt with by Sportiello in the Atalanta goal with the game entering the final 20 minutes.
Substitute Urby Emanuelson made a great run before dinking the ball in the box for German Denis to aim his header to the top corner, only for Brkic to claw the ball away.
Atalanta should have gained the lead with 15 minutes to go as the home side’s twelfth corner found Guiglielmo Stendardo but he directed his header high and wide.
Second half substitute Duje Cop, who came on for the injured Marco Sau, blazed a volley from 15 yards that summed up the quality of the match as a whole.
Despite six agonising additional minutes, the game finally had some class with Atalanta winning it at the death. Pinilla scissor-kicked the ball into the far corner with a fantastic volley to win the match for his team.
The referee soon blew for full time to end what had been a very dire match of football with Pinilla producing a fantastic moment of skill to win the game.
