ATALANTA’S BID FOR a first Serie A title continued on Saturday with a club-record 10th straight league win, 1-0 at Cagliari, as Dusan Vlahovic saved Juventus with a last-gasp penalty in a 2-2 draw with bottom club Venezia.
Nicolo Zaniolo made sure Atalanta stayed top of Serie A this weekend with the goal which decided a hard-fought encounter in Sardinia, the Italy international forward stroking home the winner from Raoul Bellanova’s cut-back in the 66th minute.
Atalanta, guided by veteran coach Gian Piero Gasperini, have emerged as genuine Scudetto challengers for the first time in their history and stay two points clear at the top of the league with closest challengers Napoli on their heels following a 3-1 win at Udinese.
However, Gasperini was not happy with his players’ performances as, after impressing in Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid, they struggled against Cagliari who are 15th and only two points above the relegation zone.
Atalanta, who also struck the post through Ademola Lookman almost straight after Zaniolo’s winner, only came away with all three points thanks to a brilliant performance between the sticks from Marco Carnesecchi who made at least six great saves including one from Leonardo Pavoletti in stoppage time.
“A good chunk of this team, not everyone, needs to grow up a bit and get the same mentality as the core group of the squad,” said Gasperini, whose decision to make three substitutions at half-time was a sign of his dissatisfaction.
Napoli, missing injured star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, came back from a goal down to secure the three points at the Bluenergy Stadium where they sealed a historic third league crown last year.
Trailing at the break after Florian Thauvin netted on the rebound from his own saved 22nd-minute penalty, Napoli roared back in the second half to delight their large and loud travelling support with strikes from Romelu Lukaku and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Lautaro Giannetti’s own goal.
Napoli are four points ahead of Lazio and third-placed Inter, who face off in Rome on Monday night, and Fiorentina with the Viola at Bologna on Saturday.
“I said after we lost to Lazio (last weekend) that we’re on the right track,” said Conte to DAZN. “The team needs to keep playing this kind of football, dictate the game, keep the ball and press when we don’t have it.”
Juventus are nine points behind Atalanta in sixth after following up on their Champions League win over Manchester City with an awful performance against Venezia which was met with loud disapproval from supporters despite Vlahovic’s late leveller.
Juve avoided a first league defeat of the season but a draw does nothing for Thiago Motta’s team who look miles behind Atalanta not just in points but also in play.
“When we play teams that leave us space we can attack well but when we play against teams that leave little space we have problems like you saw tonight,” said Motta.
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“We can’t stay where we are because we have the quality to be higher at the table.”
Vlahovic struck his 11th goal of the season from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time after Antonio Candela was penalised for handball, but the goal was met with a combination of cheers and jeers from frustrated fans who watched their team’s 12th draw of the season.
Mikael Ellertsson and Jay Idzes cancelled out Federico Gatti’s 19th-minute opener with two fine headers which put Venezia ahead seven with minutes remaining, but a draw leaves them two points from Como who sit just outside the relegation zone.
- La Liga -
In Spain, Rayo Vallecano prevented Real Madrid from taking provisional control of La Liga by holding the European champions’ to a pulsating 3-3 draw on Saturday.
Real were without Kylian Mbappe against their city rivals due to an injury sustained in the Atalanta win midweek.
Rayo Vallecano, on the back of a win last time out, stunned the visiting giants when Unai Lopez headed in Jorge de Frutos’s pin-perfect cross with the game only four minutes old.
They doubled their lead after the half-hour mark with another header, this time from Abdul Mumin.
That unexpected scoreline only lasted three minutes as Fede Valverde pulled one back for Real with a tremendous 25-yard strike for his fourth goal of the season.
Just as Rayo might have been thinking of going into the break in the lead, Jude Bellingham bagged the leveller in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
On the restart, Rodrygo put the visitors in front for the first time in style, the Brazilian winger’s shot flying into the top corner past Augusto Batalla. Seconds later, however, Isi Palazon connected with Florian Lejeune’s long range teaser to fox Thibaut Courtois and make it 3-3.
That was how the encounter ended, with Real now on 37 points, one adrift of Barcelona but with a game in hand.
- Bundesliga and Ligue 1 -
In the German Bundesliga earlier, Jae-sung Lee took Mainz to a shock 2-1 home win over Bayern Munich on Saturday, handing coach Vincent Kompany his first league loss.
Lee scored in each half against an uncharacteristically poor Bayern, who are now just four points clear after Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 win at Augsburg.
Injuries meant Kompany was unable to call on several first-team regulars including Harry Kane, Manuel Neuer, Alphonso Davies, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Joao Palhinha.
Kane’s absence was particularly telling in the first half, with the league leaders dominating possession but unable to convert any of their half chances into a goal.
Mainz boasted a better-than-expected home record against the German giants, having won three of their past four home league games over Bayern.
The home side struck shortly before half-time, Lee taking advantage of a poor clearance from his South Korea teammate Min-Jae Kim to hammer home.
Even with the knowledge that Leverkusen were ahead in Augsburg, Bayern came out poorer after half-time, lacking precision and energy.
Mainz soon capitalised through Lee again. Armindo Sieb threaded a clever cross goalwards for Lee to collect before blasting home on the spin.
Leroy Sane tapped in a deflected Joshua Kimmich shot in the 87th minute to give the league leaders hope, but Mainz held firm for a famous home win.
The result moved Mainz, who battled relegation last season, up to sixth.
Defending champions Leverkusen continued their recent resurgence, winning comfortably 2-0 at Augsburg, their seventh victory in a row.
Union Berlin drew 1-1 at home against last-placed Bochum in a game suspended by around half an hour after the visiting goalkeeper was hit by an object thrown from the crowd.
A double from Alassane Plea and goals to Robin Hack and Tim Kleindienst took Borussia Moenchengladbach to a 4-1 win over Holstein Kiel. In Saturday’s late game, Werder Bremen beat promoted St Pauli 2-0.
Meanwhile, the three Ligue 1 teams jostling behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain all dropped points on a day of draws.
Marseille and Lille cancelled each other out, 1-1, at the Velodrome.
Marseille remained second, on goal difference, when third-place Monaco drew 0-0 at Reims in the late game. The pair are four points behind PSG, who play in-form Lyon on Sunday, and three ahead of Lille.
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Atalanta win 10th straight to stay top, while Bayern suffer first league loss under Kompany
LAST UPDATE | 14 Dec 2024
ATALANTA’S BID FOR a first Serie A title continued on Saturday with a club-record 10th straight league win, 1-0 at Cagliari, as Dusan Vlahovic saved Juventus with a last-gasp penalty in a 2-2 draw with bottom club Venezia.
Nicolo Zaniolo made sure Atalanta stayed top of Serie A this weekend with the goal which decided a hard-fought encounter in Sardinia, the Italy international forward stroking home the winner from Raoul Bellanova’s cut-back in the 66th minute.
Atalanta, guided by veteran coach Gian Piero Gasperini, have emerged as genuine Scudetto challengers for the first time in their history and stay two points clear at the top of the league with closest challengers Napoli on their heels following a 3-1 win at Udinese.
However, Gasperini was not happy with his players’ performances as, after impressing in Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid, they struggled against Cagliari who are 15th and only two points above the relegation zone.
Atalanta, who also struck the post through Ademola Lookman almost straight after Zaniolo’s winner, only came away with all three points thanks to a brilliant performance between the sticks from Marco Carnesecchi who made at least six great saves including one from Leonardo Pavoletti in stoppage time.
“A good chunk of this team, not everyone, needs to grow up a bit and get the same mentality as the core group of the squad,” said Gasperini, whose decision to make three substitutions at half-time was a sign of his dissatisfaction.
Napoli, missing injured star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, came back from a goal down to secure the three points at the Bluenergy Stadium where they sealed a historic third league crown last year.
Trailing at the break after Florian Thauvin netted on the rebound from his own saved 22nd-minute penalty, Napoli roared back in the second half to delight their large and loud travelling support with strikes from Romelu Lukaku and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Lautaro Giannetti’s own goal.
Napoli are four points ahead of Lazio and third-placed Inter, who face off in Rome on Monday night, and Fiorentina with the Viola at Bologna on Saturday.
“I said after we lost to Lazio (last weekend) that we’re on the right track,” said Conte to DAZN. “The team needs to keep playing this kind of football, dictate the game, keep the ball and press when we don’t have it.”
Juventus are nine points behind Atalanta in sixth after following up on their Champions League win over Manchester City with an awful performance against Venezia which was met with loud disapproval from supporters despite Vlahovic’s late leveller.
Juve avoided a first league defeat of the season but a draw does nothing for Thiago Motta’s team who look miles behind Atalanta not just in points but also in play.
“When we play teams that leave us space we can attack well but when we play against teams that leave little space we have problems like you saw tonight,” said Motta.
“We can’t stay where we are because we have the quality to be higher at the table.”
Vlahovic struck his 11th goal of the season from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time after Antonio Candela was penalised for handball, but the goal was met with a combination of cheers and jeers from frustrated fans who watched their team’s 12th draw of the season.
Mikael Ellertsson and Jay Idzes cancelled out Federico Gatti’s 19th-minute opener with two fine headers which put Venezia ahead seven with minutes remaining, but a draw leaves them two points from Como who sit just outside the relegation zone.
- La Liga -
In Spain, Rayo Vallecano prevented Real Madrid from taking provisional control of La Liga by holding the European champions’ to a pulsating 3-3 draw on Saturday.
Real were without Kylian Mbappe against their city rivals due to an injury sustained in the Atalanta win midweek.
Rayo Vallecano, on the back of a win last time out, stunned the visiting giants when Unai Lopez headed in Jorge de Frutos’s pin-perfect cross with the game only four minutes old.
They doubled their lead after the half-hour mark with another header, this time from Abdul Mumin.
That unexpected scoreline only lasted three minutes as Fede Valverde pulled one back for Real with a tremendous 25-yard strike for his fourth goal of the season.
Just as Rayo might have been thinking of going into the break in the lead, Jude Bellingham bagged the leveller in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
On the restart, Rodrygo put the visitors in front for the first time in style, the Brazilian winger’s shot flying into the top corner past Augusto Batalla. Seconds later, however, Isi Palazon connected with Florian Lejeune’s long range teaser to fox Thibaut Courtois and make it 3-3.
That was how the encounter ended, with Real now on 37 points, one adrift of Barcelona but with a game in hand.
- Bundesliga and Ligue 1 -
In the German Bundesliga earlier, Jae-sung Lee took Mainz to a shock 2-1 home win over Bayern Munich on Saturday, handing coach Vincent Kompany his first league loss.
Lee scored in each half against an uncharacteristically poor Bayern, who are now just four points clear after Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 win at Augsburg.
Injuries meant Kompany was unable to call on several first-team regulars including Harry Kane, Manuel Neuer, Alphonso Davies, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Joao Palhinha.
Kane’s absence was particularly telling in the first half, with the league leaders dominating possession but unable to convert any of their half chances into a goal.
Mainz boasted a better-than-expected home record against the German giants, having won three of their past four home league games over Bayern.
The home side struck shortly before half-time, Lee taking advantage of a poor clearance from his South Korea teammate Min-Jae Kim to hammer home.
Even with the knowledge that Leverkusen were ahead in Augsburg, Bayern came out poorer after half-time, lacking precision and energy.
Mainz soon capitalised through Lee again. Armindo Sieb threaded a clever cross goalwards for Lee to collect before blasting home on the spin.
Leroy Sane tapped in a deflected Joshua Kimmich shot in the 87th minute to give the league leaders hope, but Mainz held firm for a famous home win.
The result moved Mainz, who battled relegation last season, up to sixth.
Defending champions Leverkusen continued their recent resurgence, winning comfortably 2-0 at Augsburg, their seventh victory in a row.
Union Berlin drew 1-1 at home against last-placed Bochum in a game suspended by around half an hour after the visiting goalkeeper was hit by an object thrown from the crowd.
A double from Alassane Plea and goals to Robin Hack and Tim Kleindienst took Borussia Moenchengladbach to a 4-1 win over Holstein Kiel. In Saturday’s late game, Werder Bremen beat promoted St Pauli 2-0.
Meanwhile, the three Ligue 1 teams jostling behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain all dropped points on a day of draws.
Marseille and Lille cancelled each other out, 1-1, at the Velodrome.
Marseille remained second, on goal difference, when third-place Monaco drew 0-0 at Reims in the late game. The pair are four points behind PSG, who play in-form Lyon on Sunday, and three ahead of Lille.
– © AFP 2024
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Disappointment european wrap Harry Kane Soccer Bayern Munich Mainz 05 Vincent Kompany