Atalanta will meet either Napoli or Fiorentina in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.
Le Dea sweats a little to beat Venezia 2-0 in the last round of the competition, with goals coming from Luis Muriel and Joakim Maehle. Although, there was a contention about Muriel’s goal while Maele hit the woodwork twice.
With their strongest available XI, which includes Muriel, Matteo Pessina, and Teun Koopmeiners picked, Atalanta, who was the Coppa Italia Finalist last season, were eager to do better this time around.
But with Napoli and Fiorentina in front of them, they might shatter their dream for the second straight season, having lost to Juventus.
Luca Lezzerini kept Venezia in the game for some time with a desperate double save on Muriel and the Koopmeiners follow-up in the opening minutes.
But Murial would score moments later. The Colombian open the goals chat with a delightful bit of skill. He chests down a cross before calmly committing the defender and goalkeeper by moving across to his left foot to tap into an empty net.
There were some suggestions that the ball might have hit his arm, but after a long check, VAR decided it was a valid goal.
Atalanta continued to create several chances, and Sofiane Kiyine curled wide. Koopneiners’ header clips the top of the crossbar just before half-time.
After Hans Hateboer blasted wide from a very promising position,
Venezia then thought they had restored parity with a wonderful Domen Crnigoj volley. However, Thomas Henry was in an offside position and dodged to get out of the way but was interfering with play.
Giuseppe Pezzella got frustrated at the other end, his strike thumping the base of the far post with the goalkeeper beaten.
In search for the equaliser, Venezia poured forward with desperation, David Schnegg slipped, sparking the counter-attack with Mario Pasalic and Joakim Maehle combining.
Meanwhile, in the Italian Super Cup, Inter Milan defeated Juventus 2-1. Weston McKennie scored to put Juventus ahead in the 25th minute, but Lautaro Martinez equalized from the penalty spot in the 35th minute. The match finished 1-1 and went to extra-time. Alexis Sanchez netted the winner last minute of the game to give Inter the victory.
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed
