Atalanta turn the tide to beat Chelsea in Champions League battle
BERGAMO, Italy, Dec 9 : Atalanta sealed an important Champions League comeback victory, overturning Chelsea 2-1 at home on Tuesday through goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Charles De Ketelaere.
The win put the Bergamo side near the top of the Champions League table, giving them a major step toward direct qualification for the round of 16 with 13 points, while Chelsea sit in the knockout phase play-off section on 10.
Joao Pedro broke the deadlock for Chelsea after 25 minutes, pouncing on a quickly taken corner that caught Atalanta sleeping. He swept in a pinpoint low cross from Reece James and, after a brief VAR check confirmed he had timed his run perfectly, the goal stood.
Chelsea kept control up to the interval but Atalanta returned with far more intent after the break and soon thought they had levelled when Ademola Lookman tapped in a cross. But Lookman had strayed clearly offside and the goal was ruled out with little protest.
The momentum had clearly shifted to the hosts and in the 55th minute De Ketelaere battled his way down the side of the box and lifted a clever ball into the middle, where Scamacca broke free from his marker and steered a header into the net for the equaliser.
Atalanta had fully taken command, with Chelsea struggling to cope with the Italians’ rapid flank play. Seven minutes before stoppage time, De Ketelaere burst into the box and fired a low effort that keeper Robert Sanchez could only parry into the roof of the net, completing the hosts’ comeback.
Chelsea pushed hard to rescue a point in the closing stages, creating several late chances, but the margins were not on the London club’s side as the attempts were either saved or missed the goal,
(Tommy Lund in Gdansk; editing by Clare Fallon)
