It was a very tough match for Roma and Atalanta deserved the win. Gasperini’s midfield made the difference.
Roma-Atalanta was like watching a chess match. The Giallorossi had a few opportunities to score the opener but Dzeko, Smalling, and Zaniolo wasted them.
When Atalanta broke the deadlock, Kalinic had another chance to score the equalizer but Gollini saved his team.
But the performance of Atalanta’s midfielders made the difference at the Stadio Olimpico. Freuler, de Roon, Castagne, Hateboer, and Malinovski outperformed Veretout, Cristante, Pellegrini, Zaniolo, and Florenzi.
“It was a very tough match and albeit we had a few chances we were never in control,” said Fonseca after the match.
Stats are there to confirm the 322 touches of Gasperini‘s midfielders while Fonseca’s men ended the match with 262. Remo Freuler and Marten de Roon successfully completed 94% and 89.6% of the passes. Pellegrini and Florenzi, instead, didn’t provide enough consistency yesterday, 57 overall touches each.
Even Dzeko was left alone up-front. Although the Bosnian dropped down to help his teammates, Roma “didn’t manage to find him enough. He was our best option to build attacks,” said the Portuguese coach.
The Bosnia international ended the match with only 1 shot on target miraculously saved by Gollini and 57 overall touches.
(Stats by SofaScore)
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