On matchday 4 of the 2021-2022 Serie A TIM, the Nerazzurri claim the second win of the season at the stadium Arechi in Salerno, once again away: Zapata scored the decisive goal against Salernitana with 15 minutes to go.
The first chance of the game came off the hosts after five minutes through Kechrida: his shot from the edge of the box went over the bar. The Nerazzurri responded to that with Gosens, who forced a save from Belec in the 17th minute after a good team move. Salernitana got dangerous on 22 minutes through Mamadou Coulibaly: his fierce finish clipped the bar.
In the second half, Gondo immediately forced a great Musso save within a few seconds: the goalkeeper took his shot out of the top corner. One-on-one with Musso, Obi hit the post when clear on goal on 70 minutes, then Bonazzoli fired wide. But the turnaround came in the 75th minute: Iličić entered the box from the right and passed it back for Zapata, who spun and beat Belec to give Atalanta the lead. In the final minutes, the Nerazzurri almost doubled their lead on 85 minutes when Zapata’s shot was parried by Belec and Zappacosta turned the rebound wide. Then, Gosens’ free header on 90 minutes was cleared off the line by a defender, who nods it onto the bar. But Zapata’s goal was enough to bring 3 extremely important points home.
SALERNITANA 0-1 ATALANTA
Scorer: Zapata 75 (A).
Salernitana: Belec, Gyomber, Strandberg, Gagliolo (Bogdan 68), Kechrida, M. Coulibaly, L. Coulibaly, Ranieri (Jaroszynski 62), Ribery (Obi 46), Djuric (Simy 75), Gondo (Bonazzoli 62). Bench: Fiorillo, Schiavone, Di Tacchio, Kastanos, Zortea, Delli Carri, Vergani. Coach: Fabrizio Castori.
Atalanta: Musso, Toloi, Demiral (Djimsiti 46), Palomino, Mæhle, Freuler, Pašalić (Koopmeiners 46), Gosens (Pezzella 91), Malinovskyi (Zappacosta 58), Miranchuk (Iličić 46), Zapata. Bench: Rossi, Sportiello, Pessina, Lovato, Piccoli. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Referee: Paolo Valeri from Roma 2.
Assistants: Alessandro Giallatini from Roma 2 and Pietro Dei Giudici from Latina.
Fourth official: Francesco Fourneau from Roma 1.
V.A.R.: Marco Di Bello from Brindisi.
A.V.A.R.: Niccolò Pagliardini from Arezzo.
Notes: Djuric (S), Ranieri (S), Obi (S), Jaroszynski (S), Mæhle (A), Toloi (A), Demiral (A), Malinovskyi (A) booked.