MILAN: Atalanta’s two-goal Charles De Ketelaere was the hero after scoring a late winner to secure a 3-2 victory over Empoli and send his side back to the top of Serie A on Sunday, while inconsistent AS Roma thrashed Parma 5-0 and Juventus ended a run of four draws.

Belgian De Ketelaere weaved his way to the edge of the box four minutes from time, skilfully holding off defenders before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner to earn the points.

Atalanta now lead the table on 40 points, two ahead of Napoli and four in front of Inter Milan, who have two games in hand, and Lazio.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta side look unstoppable. With 11 Serie A wins in a row, and 13 in total, they have the most in the big five European leagues this season.

“We came back against a team that played well,” Gasperini told Sky Italia. “The two goals conceded were due to a lapse in concentration and a penalty given by VAR. Winning it [the match] was a great achievement.”

Lorenzo Colombo stunned the hosts after 13 minutes at the Gewiss Stadium, giving 11th-placed Empoli the lead with a volley, capitalising on Liam Henderson’s cross from the byline that took Atalanta’s defence by surprise.

However, the home side showed why they are fighting for the title as De Kete­laere equalised after 34 minutes with a diving header into the bottom corner.

Ademola Lookman sealed Atalanta’s first-half comeback in stoppage time, expertly bringing the ball down inside the box with his thigh before calmly slotting it into the net.

Despite Atalanta’s pressure, Empoli pulled level three minutes before the hour with a penalty by Sebastiano Esposito after Berat Djimsiti brought down Alberto Grassi.

But De Ketelaere’s late goal sealed the win for Gasperini’s team who next visit fourth-placed Lazio on Dec 28.

ROMA HIT FIVE

Roma bounced back from last weekend’s surprise 2-0 loss at Como, which had left Claudio Ranieri’s side within two points of the drop zone, to thump Parma in the Italian capital.

Paulo Dybala hit a brace, with goals also coming from Alexis Saelemaekers, Leandro Paredes and Artem Dovbyk as Roma moved to 10th place.

“The most important thing was the points. We had to show that the team seen against Como was not the real Roma, we had to do more,” Saelemaekers told DAZN.

Parma remain one point above the drop zone in 16th spot.

Dybala converted a penalty and Saelemaekers slammed home a volley to give the home side a 2-0 lead inside the opening quarter of an hour.

The Argentinian netted his second six minutes after the break. Paredes then scored from 12 yards in the 74th minute and Ukrainian striker Dovbyk put the cherry on top for the Romans with seven minutes remaining.

Venezia climbed off the bottom of the table with a vital 2-1 home win over fellow strugglers Cagliari.

The result leaves Cagliari 18th on 14 points, one ahead of Venezia, with Monza propping up the standings with 10 points after defeat at home to Juve.

JUVE END STALEMATE RUN

Thiago Motta’s Juve maintained their unbeaten status in Serie A by seeing off the bottom side 2-1 thanks to first-half strikes from Weston McKennie and Nicolas Gonzalez.

The Old Lady remain sixth on 31 points as they won for the first time in the league since early November.

Juve struck first after a dangerous scramble that Monza barely managed to clear off the line before failing to mark at the ensuing corner as McKennie volleyed in after 14 minutes.

Samuele Birindelli equalised for Monza eight minutes later after meeting a cross perfectly to volley the ball into the bottom corner for his first Serie A goal.

But the visitors were back in the lead six minutes before the break though when a cross led to a scrambled clearance from Monza inside the box and Gonzalez reacted swiftly to fire home.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024