Atalanta put on a stunning display of attacking football, thrashing Genoa 5-1 in a Serie A encounter that saw former Genoa striker Mateo Retegui score a hat-trick against his old club. The match also featured spectacular goals from Ederson and Marten de Roon.
Despite facing an injury crisis and coming off a mixed run of form in Serie A, Atalanta showed no signs of weakness. They opened the scoring through Retegui, who finished off a well-worked team move with a sliding effort from close range.
The second half saw Atalanta unleash their full offensive potential. Retegui doubled the lead shortly after the restart, pouncing on a rebound from a long-range Ederson shot. Ederson then got on the scoresheet himself with a thunderous strike from the edge of the area that found the roof of the net.
Retegui completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after VAR detected a handball in the Genoa box. The rout was completed by de Roon, who volleyed home spectacularly after a corner was only partially cleared.
Genoa, who were missing several key players including Ruslan Malinovskyi and Milan Badelj, struggled to contain Atalanta’s attacking prowess throughout the match. They did manage a consolation goal through Jeff Ekhator late in the game, but it did little to dampen Atalanta’s dominant performance.
This emphatic victory will boost Atalanta’s confidence as they look to climb the Serie A table and build on their recent Champions League success. For Genoa, it’s back to the drawing board as they seek to address their defensive frailties and goalscoring issues.
Goals: Retegui 24, 50, pen 74 (A), Ederson 60 (A), De Roon 80 (A), Ekhator 83 (G)
Atalantac(3-4-3): Carnesecchi; De Roon, Hien, Kolasinac; Bellanova (77′ Palestra), Pasalic, Ederson (77′ Sulemana), Zappacosta; De Ketelaere (67′ Samardzic), Retegui (81′ Vlahovic), Lookman (67′ Zaniolo). Allenatore: Gasperini
Genoa (3-5-2): Gollini; De Winter, Bani (45′ Vogliacco), Vazquez; Zanoli, Thorsby, Bohinen, Miretti (67′ Melegoni), Martin (81′ Norton-Cuffy); Pinamonti (67′ Ekhator) , Vitinha (86′ Ankeye).
