ROME: Atalanta stayed hot on the heels of Serie A leaders Napoli on Monday by winning 2-0 at struggling AS Roma, who were playing at home for the first time since Claudio Ranieri’s return as coach of his boyhood club.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are one point behind Napoli thanks to Marten De Roon’s wildly deflected strike in the 69th minute and former Roma attacker Nicolo Zaniolo’s late header which gave the Bergamo club their eighth straight win in all competitions.

They are also out on their own in second place, three points ahead of champions Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, after the perfect start to a tough mini-run of fixtures with AC Milan and Real Madrid visiting in the coming days.

Atalanta, who made history by winning the Europa League last season, look more convincing as Scudetto challengers with each passing week.

A traditionally small club who have never been crowned Italian champions, Atalanta are the division’s leading scorers, have the top goalscorer in Mateo Retegui and are on an eight-match winning run in Serie A.

“Great stuff today, it wasn’t easy, in fact it was very difficult and even,” goalscorer De Roon told Sky.

“It’s always great to win here but let’s keep our feet on the ground, take each game as it comes. But this run of wins gives us a lot of belief.”

Roma meanwhile are two points above the relegation zone in 15th after a sixth defeat in seven league matches, and although Ranieri’s team were well-drilled his players created little beyond early potshots from Leandro Paredes and Manu Kone.

Artem Dovbyk and Gianluca Mancini also failed to get proper contact on good chances in the second half with the match still goalless.

“We went at it with them as long as we had the energy to do so,” said Ranieri.

“You have to realise that (Atalanta) is a team which has everything in place to fight for the title. They’re ready, really ready.”

Fans welcomed Ranieri back to the Stadio Olimpico with a series of chants and banners, and during the pre-match warm-up Roma’s players also wore T-shirts with the message “Forza Edo” for Edoardo Bove, who collapsed while playing for Fiorentina against Inter.

Bove, a Roma academy product on loan at Fiorentina from Roma since August, is conscious at Florence’s Careggi hospital and undergoing tests to determine why he suddenly fell with 16 minutes gone of Sunday’s fixture, which was called off and will be finished later in the season.

The 22-year-old was part of the Roma team guided by Jose Mourinho which won the inaugural Europa Conference League in 2022 and reached the following season’s Europa League final.

Inter and Fiorentina both have a game in hand on Atalanta due to their match being stopped for Bove’s collapse.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2024