La Dea were eager to get back on track after a dismal run of one point from three rounds, plus Coppa Italia semi-final elimination to Lazio. Lorenzo Bernasconi’s season was over after a knee ligament injury, but Gianluca Scamacca started with Nikola Krstovic after a brace in the 3-2 defeat to Cagliari. The Grifone were almost sure of Serie A safetydespite a loss to Como. Tommaso Baldanzi was still out, but Brooke Norton-Cuffy returned to the bench and Justin Bijlow shook off a muscular twinge.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Vitinha and Krstovic tested the goalkeepers early on, while Vitinha on the counter saw his attempt deflected over the bar from a Lorenzo Colombo counter-attack.
Ederson’s first touch let him down in a very promising position on the Davide Zappacosta pull-back, while Bijlow almost let the Charles De Ketelaere angled drive squirm under him after a give and go with Giorgio Scalvini.
Scalvini was decisive at the other end with a crucial block on Jeff Ekhator’s first-time strike, and Krstovic’s flick did not surprise Bijlow at the near post.
Atalanta really should’ve scored when Bijlow spilled a powerful Ederson effort from outside the box and Giacomo Raspadori only prodded the rebound straight at the goalkeeper.
Bijlow fingertipped a Krstovic attempt round the near post, but Raspadori came closest on 79 minutes when his fierce strike thumped the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
Genoa had to play the final minutes practically down to 10 men, as Junior Messias suffered a thigh strain after all the substitutions had been completed.
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