Lecce surprised everyone by winning at home for the first time this year, and Atalanta paid for perhaps too much squad rotation.
With a win, La Dea could pass Milan for second place, but they were feeling the effects of two losses in their previous three games—both coming at home to Lazio and Napoli.
Despite the absence of Davide Zappacosta and Luis Muriel due to injuries, Duvan Zapata made his first start since September 1. After being exonerated of doping charges, Jose Luis Palomino was available for the first time this season, but there was a lot of squad switching around.
Lecce only managed one victory this season, a 2-1 victory away to Salernitana, and were without Kastriot Dermaku and Samuel Umtiti.
In the opening minutes, Federico Di Francesco fired wide of the near post after a well-executed move, and Duvan Zapata forced a save from close range. When Mario Pasalic, who had received a pass from Ruslan Malinovskyi, was about to shoot, Hjulmand made an incredible sliding tackle in the box, putting Brandon Soppy at risk of an own goal with his defensive interception.
Following the resulting corner, Federico Baschirotto scored from six yards with a header to give Lecce the lead. Atalanta was obviously stunned and promptly gave up another goal, which Di Francesco scored by winning the ball back in the middle of the field and dribbling past Marco Sportiello to score into an empty net giving Lecce 2-0 lead.
Duvan Zapata scored his first goal of the season by toe-poking past the advancing goalkeeper after Malinovskyi’s through ball helped La Dea get one back.
Following the restart, Caleb Okoli’s header from a corner was also fingertipped around the far post after Gabriel Strefezza’s daisy-cutter from the edge of the area.
Sportiello was fortunate to escape punishment for his sloppy footwork while under pressure from Ceesay, and Teun Koopmeiners fired over after receiving a pass from Malinovskyi. Malinovskyi’s fierce low angled drive skimmed the upright.
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