Gian Piero Gasperini admits the draw was the right result between Inter and Atalanta, because ‘everyone can agree this was a great game between two teams who only wanted to go for the win.’
It was a topsy-turvy match at San Siro, with the hosts taking an early lead, going behind, drawing level and then late drama with a missed Federico Dimarco penalty and disallowed Roberto Piccoli goal for La Dea.
WHAT IS GOING ON! 😱
Atalanta think they’ve gone ahead late on, with a little help from Handanovic… 😬
But the goal is ruled to have gone out of play to save his blushes! 😅 pic.twitter.com/JGlupjhS9y
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 25, 2021
“Naturally, there were moments that went for one team, moments for the other, but everyone can agree this was a great game between two teams who only wanted to go for the win,” Gasperini told DAZN.
“We were close to losing on a penalty, close to winning on a disallowed goal, so we have to settle for that and call it fair. There were so many scoring opportunities from both sides, anything could’ve happened.
“When Inter stepped up the tempo, we had a few players not fully fit and lost some sharpness towards the end. We made changes, because we saw the spaces opening up, but paradoxically Dimarco was the one who created the most problems for us until we introduced Mario Pasalic to balance it out.”
Serie A | Inter 2-2 Atalanta: Drama at both ends in thriller
Atalanta are always adamant they shouldn’t be mentioned in the Scudetto race, but with performances like this, it becomes impossible to rule them out.
“I said Inter, Milan and Napoli had shown more so far this season and deserved to be up there, while we are trying to get back up the table and have never held back from a challenge. We came very close to winning this game and have gained a great deal of self-belief in recent years.”
Gasperini was asked if Ruslan Malinovskyi’s left foot should be registered as a protected UNESCO world heritage site.
“That left foot had gone a bit wayward recently, but he got it sharpened up. It was an extraordinary goal. Going behind so early in Milan is risky for any team, but we fought back, took the lead and could’ve won it, so we leave San Siro feeling more confident than before.
“We started out in a certain way, but the plan was always to adjust and move to two trequartisti between the lines. Unfortunately, that’s when we conceded the goal from Lautaro Martinez.”