Atalanta recorded a second straight win in Serie A with a 4-2 win over Napoli on Sunday evening in a game that saw all six goals scored in a frantic second half at the Gewiss Stadium.
Goals from Duvan Zapata, Robin Gosens, Luis Muriel, and Cristian Romero were enough to ensure that La Dea took all three points, despite a Piotr Zielinski strike and an own goal from Gosens keeping the Partenopei in the contest.
In what would become the story of the first half it was the hosts who dominated the contest’s early stages as they poured forward in almost constant waves of attack that had the Partenopei on their heels.
However, despite their dominance, La Dea were finding clear-cut chances hard to come by as the compact Napoli backline held firm under pressure.
In a half that was providing little in the way of entertainment on the field, it was an off-field incident that brought about the game’s first talking point when Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini was shown a red card for over-the-top dissent.
The break did little to dampen La Dea’s attacking spirit and it took them less than ten minutes of the second half to break the Patenopei’s resolve. Zapata was the man on hand to open the scoring as he headed home Muriel’s deft cross with a static Napoli backline watching on.
Atalanta’s lead would last for only six minutes before the Partenopei restored parity to with their first meaningful attack of the game. Matteo Politano provided a moment of magic for the visitors as he lofted a wonderfully weighted ball over the La Dea defence and Zielinski was on hand to volley home the equaliser.
However, despite the visitors pulling level, it would be La Dea that ended the game as a contest with three goals in the space of 15 minutes.
Gosens capped off a fine move, led by Muriel before his compatriot Zapata squared to give the German a tap-in. Muriel himself then had his own fine work recorded with a lovely third, showing some tidy footwork to work space before firing in a fierce strike at Alex Meret’s near post.
The German then turned a hopeful cross into his own goal to give Napoli hope, but Cristian Romero then met a Berat Djimsiti header on the end of a Muriel corner to restore La Dea’s two-goal cushion.
Atalanta were comfortable from there, with Napoli deflated, but the Partenopei suffered a late scare when Victor Osimhen went to ground and was stretchered off in a concerning, though mysterious, incident.
