Atalanta keeps Champions League hope alive as late goal sinks Torino

Davide Zappacosta

Atalanta keeps Champions League hope alive as late goal sinks Torino

Stephen Oladehinde 21:47 - 29.04.2023

Alatanta defeats Torino 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico Stadium as they go within two points of a Champions League spot

Torino came into this encounter hoping to build on their big win against Lazio last week but instead lost against Atalanta who also defeated Roma the previous weekend. Atalanta have been without their star player Ademola Lookman who has been out injured for a while. The Nigerian forward has scored 13 league goals for his team which makes him their highest goal scorer this season.

Atalanta took the lead in the first half thanks to their wing-back Davide Zappacosta. The home side also equalised late in the second half by Antonio Sanabria but were later shocked by Dusan Zapata who came in as a substitute to win the game for Atalanta

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

As it happened 

Torino manager Ivan Jurić fielded a strong 11 with Sanabria leading the attack while Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini was without his star player Ademola Lookman who was out with an injury as Hojlund led the attack.

The away team took advantage of their pressure as they scored the opening goal in the 34th minute. Atalanta defender Davide Zappacosta made an amazing run into the box and hit the ball from inside the penalty area. He sends the ball precisely into the bottom right corner and left Vanja Milinkovic-Savic helpless. The first half ended with Atalanta having the advantage.

The second half did not bring much excitement as few chances were created. The home side tried to get an equaliser which they did in the 75th minute when Aleksey Miranchuk's shot was blocked, but the ball rebound fell to Antonio Sanabria who found some space inside the box and buried the ball into the bottom right corner. 

Torino were hoping they would end the game in a draw, but not until the 88th minute when Duvan Zapata skipped past a few defenders and managed to fire a superb effort that went into the top right corner.

The game ended in a 2-1 win in favour of Atalanta as they continue their chase for Champions League football next season.