By Our Italian Football Correspondent at Stadio Via del Mare
ATALANTA proved exactly why they are the darlings of Italian football with a clinical 3-0 demolition of struggling Lecce on Monday night.
While the sun set over the Stadio Via del Mare, it was the stars of Bergamo who shone brightest, moving within touching distance of the European spots and leaving the hosts rooted in a relegation dogfight.
The Scalvini Surge
The breakthrough came just before the half-hour mark, and it was a moment of pure quality. Charles De Ketelaere, the Belgian maestro who seems to have found his soul again in the blue and black stripes, drifted into space before threading a needle-perfect pass to Giorgio Scalvini.
The young defensive prodigy didn’t look like a center-half as he skipped past Oumar Ngom and lashed a ferocious finish home. It was Scalvini’s third of the campaign—and his second against the Giallorossi this season—proving he is as much a threat in the opposition box as he is a rock in his own.
Krstovic Haunts the Hosts
Lecce, the division’s lowest scorers, offered little in response. After the break, the script remained firmly in the hands of the visitors. De Ketelaere was the architect once more, picking out Nikola Krstovic in the 59th minute.
Krstovic, returning to his former stomping ground, showed no sentimentality. He expertly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, marking his seventh away goal of the season and effectively killing the contest.
Raspadori Wraps It Up
With the game winding down, substitute Giacomo Raspadori added the gloss. The Italian international capitalized on a tiring Lecce defense, firing a powerful strike past the helpless Falcone to make it three.
Lecce’s Lameck Banda tried to spark a late revival with a few mazy runs, but he was a lone warrior against a disciplined Atalanta machine led by the veteran Marten de Roon.
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