Rome (AFP) – Atalanta kept their hopes of Champions League football alive after beating Fiorentina 3-1 on an emotional day in which Serie A honoured the memory of the Viola’s deceased former captain Davide Astori.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s flamboyant side are six points behind fourth-placed Inter Milan after winning the second spectacular clash with Fiorentina in a matter of days after their thrilling 3-3 Coppa Italia semi-final draw midweek.
Goals from Josip Ilicic, Alejandro Gomez and Robin Gosens saw Atalanta through in Bergamo amid moving tributes for ex-Italy international Astori, who died in his sleep aged just 31 on March 4 last year in a hotel ahead of ahead of Fiorentina’s match at Udinese.
As with the rest of Serie A matches this weekend play was stopped in the 13th minute out of respect for Astori, who wore the number 13 shirt in honour of his idol, former Italy and AC Milan centre-back Alessandro Nesta.
Astori’s name was chanted by fans of Milan, where he came through as a youth player, during a 1-0 win over Sassuolo on Saturday that took Gennaro Gattuso’s side third and a point above Inter, who lost 2-1 at Cagliari amid a public contract dispute with absent star striker Mauro Icardi.
Atalanta’s playmaker Ilicic, who played alongside Astori at Fiorentina, broke down in tears when played stopped, while away fans held up “Astori” signs and the home fans showed appreciation for a player born and raised in the province of Bergamo.
The Slovenian composed himself enough to level Luis Muriel’s third-minute opener in the 28th minute thanks to a shot that took a huge deflection off Jordan Veretout and six minutes later Gomez put the hosts ahead with a wonderful run and shot past Alban Lafont.
Gosens added the decisive third just before the hour mark following a goalmouth scramble to move his side level on 41 points with Lazio, 3-0 winners over Roma in Saturday’s Rome derby, and Torino, who beat rock-bottom Chievo by the same score on Sunday.
– Quagliarella equals Ronaldo –
Two points further back are Sampdoria, thanks to Fabio Quagliarella joining Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the scoring charts with 19 goals following a brace in his side’s 2-1 win at struggling SPAL.
Veteran striker Quagliarella, 36, has already matched his league tally for last season in a match that saw home fans leave the stadium in protest when Sergio Floccari’s second half goal was ruled out for the tightest of offsides by the video assistant referee (VAR) system.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2GXGfXE
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