Atalanta continued their winless streak in Serie A with a 1-1 draw against Sassuolo on Saturday evening at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.
German Denis scored from the spot in his final match for the club to cancel out a Domenico Berardi opener, and both sides struggled to find goalscoring ability from then on.
Neroverdi fans were given a reason to celebrate relatively early on when Diego Falcinelli stuck the top corner of the net when he pounced on a loose ball in the area but the referee ruled it to be offside.
It took just under 30 minutes but some sloppy Dea defending gifted Sassuolo with the game’s first goal as a cross across the face of goal took an unwanted deflection off a defender and found its way into the path of Domenico Berardi, who simply had to tap it into the net.
Just minutes later and Sassuolo’s joy turned to despair as Andrea Consigli fouled Jasmin Kurtic in the area to give away a penalty, causing uproar on the sidelines and the players surrounding the referee.
Denis stepped up and originally had his effort stopped from 12 yards but he converted the follow up to equalise for the hosts.
The second half’s first big opportunity fell to Luca Cigarini who tried to sneak the ball in past Consigli at his near post but it was a routine save.
Both teams then pressed up field but couldn’t crack each other’s defence, and the counter attack opportunities they left behind were not taken effectively enough.
That didn’t matter ten minutes from the end, however, when Denis was substituted off in his final match for Atalanta ahead of his move to Independiente, with El Tanque receiving a standing ovation from the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.
His goal to claim the draw means Atalanta now sit 11th in the Serie A table, while Sassuolo are seventh.
