Atalanta picked up their fourth consecutive win in all competitions after a dominant second half display against struggling Salernitana, as goals from Luis Muriel, Mario Pasalic, Charles De Ketelaere and Aleksei Miranchuk nullified Lorenzo Pirola’s first-half opener.
Ademola Lookman created a nice opportunity for Atalanta seven minutes in.
The former Charlton academy graduate scooped a cross in from the edge of the area towards Teun Koopmeiners, whose header was ultimately lacking in power before being collected by Benoit Costil.
Two minutes later, however, Salernitana found themselves in the lead. A free-kick just inside the Atalanta half was lifted in towards the area, where an unmarked Lorenzo Pirola latched on to bury a relatively simple header into the far corner, almost completely unchallenged.
When they broke forwards in the opening exchanges, Salernitana looked the more threatening of the sides, particularly from set pieces.
Atalanta players were bemused by the referee’s decision to award a foul on Candreva by Koopmeiners on the Salernitana byline 10 minutes before half-time.
The Dutchman had picked out Lookman stood in space, two yards away from goal, but the Nigeria international managed to spoon over from point-blank range under little pressure. Fortunately for him, play had already been pulled back.
Atalanta went in for half-time having controlled 66% of possession, but had failed to create opportunities that put Salernitana under any real pressure, eventually finishing the first 45 minutes with just two attempts on target. Pirola’s goal was Salernitana’s only shot on goal during the opening period.
After a quiet affair in the first half, Atalanta came out for the second with much more intent and it took them just two minutes to draw themselves level.
Matteo Ruggeri had been relatively fortunate to win a corner from a deep cross on the left-hand side. The resulting set-piece was headed to the edge of the area, but only as far as Muriel, who sent a rising first-time half-volley into the roof of the net.
Muriel was involved again when Atalanta found their second goal of the game four minutes after the restart as well.
The Colombian broke through on the right wing before sending a ball into Lookman in the middle of the area, who in turn was able to spin and lay off Pasalic to his left to tuck away into the far corner.
Pasalic had clearly been instructed by Gasperini at the interval to push on higher to provide Atalanta with more numbers in the area.
Muriel, buzzing with confidence, also fired another effort towards the Salernitana goal after an hour, although Costil had done well to reposition himself after a deceiving deflection.
Salernitana substitute Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi had a glorious chance to draw his side level with 20 minutes left to play, but Marco Carnesecchi reacted well to come off his line and force a corner on the edge of his six-yard box.
Boulaye Dia then took the ball off Grigoris Kastanos inside the area shortly afterwards, before smashing the outside of the post.
At the other end, Lookman couldn’t quite find the finishing touch on Charles De Ketelaere’s bouncing ball into the area, despite being unchallenged in front of Costil in goal.
Giorgio Scalvini found himself pressing well into the Salernitana half with 82 minutes on the clock and did well to win the ball off Norbert Gyomber.
The 20-year-old, having already done the hard work, then laid off to De Ketelaere in the box, who in turn, managed to slot the ball into the near post to make it 3-1, giving Atalanta a comfortable two-goal lead to see out the final 10 minutes.
Aleksei Miranchuk made it four with just over a minute of regular time left on the clock.
The Salernitana backline parted like the red sea for Charles De Ketelaere to slot Miranchuk in from the left channel, allowing the Russian to lift the ball above Costil, with the help of a deflection, and into the net.
As a result, Atalanta find themselves back in seventh place in Serie A, two points shy of the Champions League spots, while Salernitana stay rooted to the bottom of the division.
Atalanta 4-1 Salernitana
Pirola (S) 10′, Muriel (A) 47′, Pasalic (A) 52′ De Ketelaere (A) 83′, Miranchuk (A) 89′.
Player statistic
| 10' |  |
Lorenzo Pirola (Assist: Antonio Candreva) | ||
| 40' |  |
Lorenzo Pirola |
| Luis Muriel | |
47' | ||
| Mario Pasalic (Assist: Ademola Lookman) |
|
52' | ||
| 65' | |
Giulio Maggiore | ||
| Matteo Ruggeri | |
77' | ||
| Charles De Ketelaere (Assist: Giorgio Scalvini) |
|
83' | ||
| Aleksey Miranchuk (Assist: Charles De Ketelaere) |
|
89' |
Match statistic
