And Lecce repeated its victory over Atalanta following he dropped it in the first leg with the same result, to raise its score to 27 points in the thirteenth place, while the balance of coach Jean Piero Gasperini’s team froze at 41 points a week following dropping Lazio in the capital 2-0.
Atalanta fell from fifth to sixth in favor of Lazio, following the latter beat its host Salernitana with two goals from Ciro Immobile (60 and 69 from a penalty kick), who raised his tally to 9 goals this season and became eighth on the list of the league’s historical scorers with 191 goals, far behind leader Silvio Piola. (274).
The sixth loss this season comes to Atalanta before its fiery confrontation next Saturday once morest Milan, the defending champion and the third in the standings, who beat Montsa 1-0 on Saturday.
And Roma will be alone in the last fourth place that qualifies for the Champions League if it beats its guest Verona, while a tie will make it the same distance from its arch-neighbor Lazio, who has become fourth temporarily.
The problem of the first minutes
After a match in which Lecce emerged victorious, despite possessing only 30 percent of the ball, Gasperini told the Italian network, “Sky Sports”, “We created a lot of chances and pressed, but everything was wrong. It seems that we always receive goals of this kind early in the match, If we continue like this, we will be limited.”
And he believed, “High-class teams do not do things of this kind (receive goals) permanently, and we cannot always succeed in returning from afar.”
And regarding facing the important next stage for the Champions League struggle, he said, “Facing Milan will be more difficult than meeting Lecce, but as I always say, things are related to the way we start the match. We always suffer from goals that enter our net in the first five minutes.”
Lecce advanced through Gambian Asan Cesay following a solo effort that ended with a long, creeping shot from outside the penalty area that deceived Argentine goalkeeper Juan Musso (4).
The guest team doubled the score following a pass from substitute Gabriel Strivesa, followed by a header from French Alex Blaine into the net (74).
Atalanta reduced the score following Lecce goalkeeper Vladimiro Falconi made a fatal mistake while dispersing the ball, as Danish striker Rasmus Holland hit it with his foot and scored the net (87).
Atalanta suffered three defeats in its last four matches in various competitions, as it lost to Inter 0-1 in the quarter-finals of the cup, and with the same result once morest Sassuolo in stage 21, before beating Lazio 2-0 in the last stage.
The last loss of Atalanta, before this stage, at home, dates back to October 13 last year, once morest Inter 2-3 (stage 15).
On the other hand, Lecce did not taste the loss in its last three matches, as it beat Cremonese 2-0 and drew at home with Roma 1-1, only to return and fall Atalanta.
Juventus continues its revival
Juventus continued its awakening and tried to get out of the shock of deducting 15 points from its balance due to manipulation of the financial data, by achieving its fourth successive domestic victory, and it came at the expense of its host Spezia with two clean goals scored by Moise Kean following a pass from Serbian Philip Kostic (32) and Argentine substitute Angel Di Maria from outside the region (66).
And with his third successive victory in the league during a series that also started with a victory in the quarter-finals of the cup competition over Lazio 1-0, before it was disturbed by stumbling Thursday in Turin once morest Nantes, France (1-1) in the play-off that qualifies for the final price of the “Europa League”, Juventus raised its tally. To 32 points in seventh place.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri’s team hopes to surpass Nantes next Thursday in order to maintain its hope of participating in the Champions League next season by winning the “Europa League” title, while its local ambition is currently limited to awaiting the result of resuming the penalty imposed on it in the cup competition in which it faces Inter in the semi-finals. .
Fiorentina escaped from a third defeat in a row and saved a point once morest its guest Empoli thanks to Brazilian substitute Arthur Cabral, who equalized in the 85th minute of the match, following his team trailed since the 29th minute with the goal of Nicolo Campiagi.
