Reja: Penalty incident ruined the match

Atalanta coach Edy Reja didn’t hesitate to show his displeasure as his side were reduced to 10 men in the opening five minutes before a 3-0 loss away to Fiorentina.

Gabriel Paletta found himself walking off the pitch after his foul of Jakub Blaszczykowski very early on, condemning La Dea with a mountainous task to climb against the high flying Viola.

“The episode with the penalty ruined the match,” Reja argued in the post match press conference.

“I would have liked to see Atalanta in 11 against 11. We had prepared a game plan in a certain way, but the expulsion changed the match. We had to attack to try to equalize, so we left some space that Fiorentina  had managed to exploit greatly.”

Reja further shared his disgust with the referee’s decision on the night.

“On the penalty [Paletta] could’ve stayed on the pitch, but the sending off after three minutes is absurd,” he said.

“Also because poor Paletta had not fouled him, if anything, the foul was [Alejandro] Gomez.”