Milan, Jan. 10 (LaPresse) – On Matchday 20 of Serie A, at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo, Atalanta defeated Torino 2-0. The home side already led 1-0 at halftime, dominating possession and taking the lead in the 13th minute with a header by Charles De Ketelaere from a corner taken by Lorenzo Bernasconi. The Belgian rose above his marker and nodded the ball into the left corner past Paleari.
In the second half, “La Dea” nearly doubled their lead in the 49th minute when Davide Zappacosta hit the post after controlling the ball inside the box. Torino tried to turn the game around by introducing fresh legs: Giovanni Simeone replaced Duvan Zapata, Emirhan Ilkhan came on for the booked Adrien Tameze, and Che Adams substituted Cyril Ngonge. The newcomer Simeone came close in the 75th minute, but goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi denied him with a diving save.
Atalanta made substitutions of their own with ten minutes left: Lazar Samardzic replaced De Ketelaere, and Mario Pasalic came on for Nicola Zalewski. Torino made further changes, bringing on Cristiano Biraghi for Valentino Lazaro and Alieu Njie for Zakaria Aboukhlal. During Torino’s late push, with Vlasic almost equalizing, Atalanta sealed the victory in the 95th minute thanks to a brilliant solo effort by Pasalic, who broke free on a counterattack and scored from close range.
It was the third consecutive league win for Atalanta, who now sit on 31 points and reenter the race for European qualification, while Torino, suffering their second straight defeat, remain at 23.