Atalanta were at a disadvantage in the tie, but they turned it around in style, with a great bicycle goal and two goals in stoppage time, beating Fiorentina 4-1 and guaranteeing their presence in the final of the Italian Cup, where they will face to Juventus.
With Juventus already qualified, the other finalist of the Italian Cup remained to be defined and Atalanta hosted Fiorentina, after the Florence side had won the 1st leg, at home, by 1-0. Knowing this disadvantage, the Bergamo team came out with everything, as expected, and in the 8th minute they celebrated the equalizer, in a quick transition, by Koopmeiners, with Atalanta’s first shot. Shortly after, at 13′, it was 2-0, with a great goal from Scamacca from outside the area, but the VAR found an offside at the start of the play and everything remained tied in the tie.
This exciting start did little to change the game. Atalanta continued to focus on the transition, while Fiorentina tried to have more possession of the ball. However, in general, this possession was somewhat ineffective and the outsider’s effectiveness was scarce in the final third, which allowed Atalanta to come out with danger several times in the transition and create the best opportunities in the 1st half, after their goal.
This transition, moreover, caused havoc at the start of the 2nd half, when, at 53′, Milenkovic ended up being sent off, for blocking Scamacca when he was going isolated towards the goal. With one unit less, Fiorentina lost its spark and saw Atalanta grow, but it held its own and ended up scoring, in the 68th minute, by Quarta, following a free kick in the left half, headed by the central defender.
The game was once again open and Atalanta once again needed to recover from the loss, but Gasperini’s men were not shy and the appearances of Lookman and Pasalic brought new life to the wings. The one who benefited from this was Scamacca, who started to be served more and, in the 75th minute, scored an authentic great, by bicycle, making the game 2-1 and the tie in the tie. Everything pointed to extra time as the minutes went by, but the added time was crazy, Atalanta scored two goals, through Lookman and Pasalic, and ended up winning 4-1.
In this way, Atalanta guaranteed their presence in the Italian Cup final, where they will face Juventus.
