Atalanta are out of the Coppa Italia after a dramatic last-gasp 3-2 home defeat to 10-man Fiorentina, decided by Nikola Milenkovic after fantastic Davide Zappacosta and Jeremie Boga goals.
The winners will face either Juventus or Sassuolo in the two-legged semi-final.
Both teams were coming off heavy Serie A defeats, injuries and losing big players in the January transfer window. La Dea missed Duvan Zapata and had to rest Luis Muriel, so Mario Pasalic was used as a False 9 with Jeremie Boga getting his first start. The Viola opted for Krzysztof Piatek upfront and had Lucas Martinez-Quarta back after a month out.
It was immediately a dramatic start, as within six minutes VAR alerted the referee to Marten de Roon treading on the foot of Nico Gonzalez right on the line. Piatek converted, giving him his ninth goal in just 11 career Coppa Italia appearances.
Coppa Italia Liveblog: Atalanta-Fiorentina and Juventus-Sassuolo
A Nico Gonzalez curler was beaten away, while Boga ran from his own half only for Igor to make a decisive block and Ruslan Malinovskyi drilled wide.
Atalanta equalised with a truly special finish from Davide Zappacosta, curled into the far top corner from a tricky angle with his right boot. It was simply impossible to stop, in off the underside of the bar.
The hosts looked as if they had taken the lead just before the break when Zappacosta rolled across for Boga and the most delicate of touches off the outside of the boot, but it bounced off the upright and Mario Pasalic failed to get the rebound in during a mad scramble.
Piatek’s header on a Cristiano Biraghi free kick was just over the crossbar, but Atalanta turned the game around when Boga nutmegged Martinez-Quarta and curled into the far bottom corner with the inside of the right boot. It was his first goal for the club since leaving Sassuolo in January.
Somewhat against the run of play, the Viola received another penalty, as Teun Koopmeiners was not looking where he was going and completely mistimed the clearance, kicking Youssef Maleh instead. Piatek saw his spot-kick parried by Musso this time, but was able to turn in the rebound for 2-2.
Jack Bonaventura’s shot almost fell into the path of Maleh, then Matteo Pessina nodded a Koopmeiners cross wide and Zappacosta saw his effort smash against the crossbar after a Luis Muriel dummy.
Fiorentina went down to 10 men, as Martinez-Quarta received his second yellow card for a sliding tackle on Muriel in full flight.
Deep into stoppages, Berat Djimsiti’s looping header skimmed the far post on a Hans Hateboer cross.
However, the drama was at the other end, when Jack Bonaventura knocked down a Biraghi free kick for substitute Nikola Milenkovic’s control and half-volley from the edge of the box, swinging a right-foot into the far bottom corner. Several minutes passed as VAR checked both a potential handball and offside, but then gave the all-clear, as that was the last kick of the game.
Atalanta 2-3 Fiorentina
Piatek pen 9, 71 (F), Zappacosta 30 (A), Boga 56 (A), Milenkovic 93 (F)
Saved penalty: Piatek 71 (F)
Sent off: Martinez-Quarta 79 (F)
Atalanta‘s season getting very shaky now.
Hopefully they regroup for the Europa League – Italy doesn’t need yet another failure in that.
Is Atalanta gonna make it 3 losses out of 3 against Juve this weekend.
Or are they gonna come out like the wounded animals backed into a corner as they appear to be.
Either way, this weekend threatens to derail either one or the other’s season.
@Jack
True. This is a real six-pointer coming up.