Atalanta’s strong form continues after a poor start to the season, and they have now risen to the top of the Serie A standings after defeating AC Milan. The team, which finished fourth last season, won 2-1 against the 19-time league champions in their home match on Friday.
Milan’s excitement was cut short in the seventh minute when Álvaro Morata thought he had scored, only for the linesman’s offside flag to nullify the goal. In the 12th minute, Atalanta took the lead with a superb header from former Milan player Charles De Ketelaere. Morata equalized 10 minutes later with a close-range strike.
The match remained tied for much of the game, but with three minutes left in regulation time, Atalanta stunned Milan. Ademola Lookman, unmarked, scored a brilliant header off a corner, securing all three points for Atalanta.
The Nigerian forward’s hat-trick in May was key in Atalanta’s Europa League victory, ending a 60-year trophy drought. After a slow start to the current season with only two wins in the first six rounds, Atalanta has won all of their last nine matches, sitting at the top of the league with 34 points from 15 matches.
With this latest victory, Atalanta also set a record for the most consecutive wins in Serie A, matching their previous record of nine straight victories from February to July 2020. Napoli is second with 32 points, having played one less match.
Meanwhile, Milan’s recent struggles have continued. In the wake of their defeat, Milan’s coach, Paulo Fonseca, expressed frustration with the refereeing. The Portuguese coach claimed that the referee showed insufficient respect for his team throughout the match.
“Honestly, I’m not afraid,” Fonseca said. “I always respect the referee’s job, and I understand it’s difficult. But the same thing happens every week.”
He pointed to Atalanta’s first goal, claiming that Theo Hernández was pushed by Charles De Ketelaere while attempting to jump for the ball. “The first goal was a clear foul, no doubt about it. The way the referee managed the game was directly against Milan, no doubt about it.”
Despite this, Fonseca acknowledged some defensive issues in his team. “In the end, we lost the match due to two set pieces. The first half was quite good, but in the second half, we couldn’t connect with our strikers.”
With just six wins and four draws from 14 matches, Milan sits seventh in the standings with 22 points.
