Atalanta came from behind to earn a 2-1 victory over Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League, ending their two-game losing run against the Belgians to pick up their first three points of the campaign.
Atalanta came into the game sitting bottom of the league phase after a 4-0 defeat to reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain on matchday one, while Brugge claimed an impressive 4-1 win over AS Monaco.
With plenty of talented attacking players on both sides, those in attendance would have expected an entertaining first half, yet this didn’t transpire as only one shot on target was recorded in the opening 45 minutes.
This solitary effort, however, was enough to see the Belgian outfit hit the front, and in fine fashion too.
Having received the ball just outside the area, Christos Tzolis created room for a right-footed effort which curled beautifully into the right side of the net past the despairing Marco Carnesecchi.
Atalanta have now kept just one clean sheet across their last eight UCL outings.
La Dea are joint-second highest scorers in Serie A so far this season, but they were finding clear-cut chances very hard to come by as the Nerazzurri held firm. Indeed, it was Nicky Hayen’s side who created the first real opening of the second half when Ademola Lookman looked set to deliver a cross near the byline, but the ball went goalwards and Nordin Jackers was forced into making a save.
It appeared that the hosts would need a helping hand to get back into the game, and they were given a lifeline when, after a VAR check, Jackers was adjudged to have brought Mario Pasalic down inside the area.
Substitute Lazar Samardzic made no mistake from the spot to set up a grandstand finish.
Having suffered this setback, the visitors almost retook the lead shortly after when Romeo Vermant took the ball around Carnesecchi inside the area, but his effort from a tight angle went just wide of the right post.
This would ultimately prove to be a costly miss, as with three minutes of normal time remaining, a ball into the area was glanced on by Yunus Musah and into the path of Pasalic, who nodded home from point-blank range to spark wild scenes of celebration as La Dea opened their account in this season’s UCL in dramatic style.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mario Pasalic (Atalanta)