PLAYER RATINGS | Napoli 0-3 Atalanta | OneFootball

Goals from Aleksei Miranchuk, Gianluca Scamacca and Teun Koopmeiners help Atalanta prevail in a massive six-pointer clash versus Napoli in the Serie A.

The first half started with sparring between the two teams and it was not until the 26th minute we had our breakthrough for the match. Atalanta drew first blood as Marten de Roon nodded the ball into the box, which Juan Jesus dealt as far as Mario Pasalic, whose miscued shot ended up for a tap-in opportunity for Aleksei Miranchuk and he made no mistake from close range.

Napoli came close equalising three minutes after conceding. La Dea had struggled with Victor Osimhen’s movement as he picked up a through ball, and set up a one-on-one situation with Marco Carnessechi, who denied the Nigerian before Giorgio Scalvini blocked Matteo Politano’s follow-up shot.

Atalanta were able to double their lead just before the stroke of half-time through Gianluca Scamacca. The 25-year-old drilled in his shot from the edge of the box past Alex Meret as Juan Jesus stood frustrated with his mistake, by giving the ball away to Miranchuk, who set up the Italian forward.

Marco Carnessechi was on top form today as he made a couple of crucial saves to dent Napoli’s attacking motives. He cleared Stanislav Lobotka’s by tipping it over the post in the last second in the 55th minute and he denied Osimhen again in the 81st minute when he parried the Partenopei forward’s volley which was registered as a shot on target.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s men put the final nail in the coffin in the 88th minute. Teun Koopmeiners carried on with his impressive form this season as he picked up the pass from Matteo Ruggeri before slotting it home into the far bottom corner, leaving Meret with no chance.

With this win, Atalanta have opened up a five-point gap from 7th-placed Napoli. They are now four points away from 4th-placed Bologna and this victory keeps the Bergamo-based side in firm contention to qualify for the Champions League next season.

Player Ratings:

Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret (5,5); Di Lorenzo (6), Rrahmani (6), Jesus (4,5), Mario Rui (6,5); Anguissa (6), Lobotka (6,5), Traore (6,5); Politano (6,5), Osimhen (7), Raspadori (6).

Substitutes: Piotr Zielinski (6,5), Cyril Ngonge (6), Jesper Lindstrom (6,5), Giovanni Simeone (-)

Atalanta (3-4-1-2): Carnesecchi (8,5); Scalvini (7), Hien (6), Kolasinac (6,5); Hateboer (6,5), de Roon (7), Ederson (6), Zappacosta (6,5); Pasalic (6,5); Miranchuk (8,5), Scamacca (7).

Substitutes: Matteo Ruggeri (7), Teun Koopmeiners (7), Ademola Lookman (6), Berat Djimsiti (6), Rafael Toloi (5,5).

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN