BERGAMO: Juventus were held yet again as they drew 1-1 at Atalanta in Serie A on Tuesday, with Pierre Kalulu’s early second-half goal cancelled out by a late equaliser from Mateo Retegui.
The result brings Juve’s total number of league draws to 13 from 20 matches so far, keeping them in fifth place with 34 points. Atalanta, also on a three-match run of draws, remain third with 43, four points behind leaders Napoli.
“To draw like that in the closing minutes hurts a bit. We played well and had the chances to win today,” said Kalulu.
Kalulu scored nine minutes after the interval, finishing Weston McKennie’s pass into the box by sliding the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi at the near post.
However, Atalanta built momentum and substitute Retegui, returning from injury, levelled with a diving header from Raoul Bellanova’s assist in the 78th minute.
Despite the draw both sides posted some positive records, with Atalanta remaining unbeaten in 15 Serie A games for the second time in their history.
Juve manager Thiago Motta, who watched from the stands after receiving a red card in Saturday’s derby against Torino, is also the second Juve manager to remain unbeaten in his first 20 Serie A matches following in the footsteps of Antonio Conte.
“It was a great match tonight, and I’m very happy with the way my boys played,” Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini told Sky. “It was difficult going behind because we were hoping to go ahead but I think at the end of the day a draw is probably a fair result.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao saved Milan from an embarrassing defeat at Como with the goals which gave Sergio Conceicao’s new team a 2-1 win.
Trailing to Assane Diao’s fine low strike on the hour mark, star players Hernandez and Leao turned the match around by the 76th minute, handing Conceicao his first league win as Milan coach.
Tuesday’s victory in one of their two games in hand moved Milan up to seventh on 31 points, five behind fourth-placed Lazio as Conceicao tries to reignite the Italian giants’ bid for Champions League qualification.
“They (Como) are a good team with a good coach, it’s not easy to play here,” said Conceicao.
“It was an even game but we can’t concede as much as we did, we need to be more organised.”
Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2025