Atalanta came away with a full three points in Serie A action on Thursday after defeating Napoli by a score of 2-0. This was Atalanta’s fourth straight win since the coronavirus hiatus. They previously beat Sassuolo 4-1 on June 21, Lazio 3-2 on June 24, and Udinese 3-2 on June 28.
The streak comes after Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini of Grugliasco, Italy tested positive for COVID-19 during the month of March. In the last 11 days, Gasperini has seen his Atalanta squad outscore their opponents 12-5 over the last four games.
Both of Atalanta’s goals came early in the second half. Central midfielder Mario Pasalic of Mainz, Germany put Atalanta on the scoreboard in the 47th minute with his sixth goal of the season, and then left-back Robin Gosens of Emmerich am Rhein, Germany scored his ninth goal of the season in the 55th minute.
Even though Pasalic was born in Germany, he represents Croatia internationally. He has played 12 games for Croatia overall. However, Pasalic was not chosen to represent Croatia at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil or the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Gosens has dual citizenship as he also has Dutch heritage. His father is Dutch, and Gosens has passports from the Netherlands and Germany. There is no doubt that Gosens is enjoying a breakout season for Atalanta, as his nine goals are a career-high in Serie A action. Gosens previously scored only one goal in the 2017-18 Serie A league, and then three goals during the 2018-19 season.
Atalanta is in fourth place in Serie A with a record of 18 wins, five losses, and six draws for 60 points. Currently, Atalanta is in an excellent position to capture one of Italy’s Champions League spots as they are in fourth place, and have 12 more points than fifth place AS Roma. Napoli meanwhile is in sixth place with a record of 13 wins, 10 losses, and six draws for 45 points.
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