Atalanta secured a Serie A Champions League spot with a 2-0 win over rivals Lazio on Saturday, while top-four-placed Roma played out a 1-1 draw against Lecce.
Goals from Davide Zappacosta and Rasmus Hjlund saw the Bergamo club jump from sixth to third, ahead of Lazio, defending champions AC Milan and Roma in a fierce battle to qualify for Europe’s top club competition.
Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio, which could leapfrog city rivals Roma with a win at the Stadio Olimpico, dropped to sixth, two points behind the top four.
Atalanta, Roma and fifth-placed Milan are level on 41 points but 15 behind runaway leaders Napoli.
Atalanta took the lead in a breathless encounter in the Italian capital when Zappacosta fired a sweet strike into the top corner in the 23rd minute.
Young Danish striker Højlund doubled the advantage for Gian Piero Gasparini’s men in the 65th minute, converting Ademola Lukman’s cross as Lazio were made to pay for not taking their chances.
– Wijnaldum returns for Roma –
Jose Mourinho’s Roma grabbed the last Champions League spot after dropping two points on 14th-placed Lecce as Netherlands star Georginio Wijnaldum made a long-awaited return from injury.
They made a terrible start when a low-pressure Roger Ibanez turned the ball into his own net from a corner in the seventh minute.
Paulo Dybala equalized from the penalty spot 10 minutes later after a Lecce handball as Roma reacted strongly to the early setbacks.
But the visitors, buoyed by the return of midfielder Wijnaldum from the bench after a prolonged absence due to a tibia fracture in August, failed to find a winner.
Lecce goalkeeper Vladimir Falcon made several saves, denying Tammy Abraham three times.
Empoli scored a stoppage-time equalizer as they recovered from two goals down to draw 2–2 at home, in an entertaining contest where both sides were reduced to 10 men.
Fabiano Parisi was sent off for the hosts after a VAR review in the 21st minute.
Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario thought he had saved the resulting penalty by Daniel Verde, but the referee ordered it back for encroachment, and Verde made no mistake with the second attempt.
Verde gave Spezia a 2–0 lead in the 31st minute with a superb long-range strike, but Salvatore Esposito’s red card for a second bookable offense shortly after half-time saw the match swing in Empoli’s favour.
Niccolò Cambiaghi halved the deficit with a goal in the 71st minute, before Emanuele Vignato’s injury-time equalizer denied what would have been a valuable win for Spezia, who are in 17th place, just above the relegation zone. Five points up.
Olivier Giroud ended AC Milan’s dramatic slump with the only goal in a 1-0 win over Torino at the San Siro on Friday.
The France striker’s header from a Theo Hernandez cross in the second half broke the champions’ three-match losing streak in the Italian top-flight.
Alu / IMM / DJ
