Conceiçao

Atalanta creeped nearer to Serie A leaders Napoli on Tuesday after drawing an entertaining match with Juventus 1-1 and shifting to inside 4 factors of the summit, whereas AC Milan got here from behind to beat Como.

Mateo Retegui salvaged some extent for Atalanta with a close-range header 12 minutes from time, not lengthy after returning to motion from the bench following 4 weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring damage.

The Italy striker’s end, which levelled Pierre Kalulu’s 54th-minute opener for Juve, put him out on his personal on the prime of the Serie A scoring charts on 13 targets and pushed Atalanta to 43 factors, forward of table-topping Napoli’s essential journey to Bergamo this coming weekend.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s facet, who’re bidding for his or her first league title after profitable the Europa League final season, sit stage on factors with second-placed Inter Milan.

Nonetheless, champions Inter have two video games in hand on each Atalanta and Napoli and play the primary of these fixtures towards Bologna on the San Siro on Wednesday.

“It was an awesome match tonight, and I am very proud of the best way my boys performed,” mentioned Gasperini to Sky.

“It was tough going behind as a result of we have been hoping to go forward however I believe on the finish of the day a draw might be a good consequence.”

Tuesday’s draw was Atalanta and Juve’s rescheduled fixture as a consequence of their journey to Saudi Arabia to contest the Italian Tremendous Cup earlier this month with Inter and winners AC Milan.

Juve have been once more with no recognised striker as a consequence of an damage disaster which has left each Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik sidelined however Thiago Motta’s facet have been a relentless menace.

Moments earlier than his opener Kalulu watched on in frustration as his glancing header hit the within of the publish and was simply scooped off the road by Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.

And Kenan Yildiz put huge an awesome probability to grab a last-gasp win deep in stoppage time, shortly after substitute Nicolo Zaniolo slapped a golden alternative for the hosts straight at Juve goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.

“To attract like that within the closing minutes hurts a bit. We performed effectively and had the possibilities to win at this time,” mentioned Kalulu.

Juve stay unbeaten however have now drawn 13 of their 20 league fixtures and sit fifth, 13 factors behind Napoli.

– Conceicao success –

Earlier, Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao saved Milan from an embarrassing defeat at Como with the targets which gave Sergio Conceicao’s new crew a 2-1 win.

Trailing to Assane Diao’s superb low strike on the hour mark, star gamers Hernandez and Leao turned the match round by the 76th minute, handing Conceicao his first league win as Milan coach.

Tuesday’s victory in one in all their two video games in hand moved Milan as much as seventh on 31 factors, 5 behind fourth-placed Lazio as Conceicao tries to reignite the Italian giants’ bid for Champions League qualification.

“They (Como) are a superb crew with a superb coach, it isn’t straightforward to play right here,” mentioned Conceicao.

“It was a fair sport however we won’t concede as a lot as we did, we must be extra organised.”

Left flank pairing Hernandez and Leao had reportedly been at loggerheads with Conceicao’s predecessor Paulo Fonseca, who was sacked on the finish of December following a dismal opening half of the season.

Each praised their new coach after he arrived simply earlier than the brand new yr and instantly received the Tremendous Cup for Milan, who got here from two targets behind to beat Inter in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

Hernandez levelled for Milan 11 minutes after Como new boy Diao’s opener when his mishit volley sliced off his left boot and looped previous goalkeeper Jean Butez.

Leao dinked dwelling the decisive purpose shortly afterwards, assembly substitute Tammy Abraham’s wonderful by ball earlier than netting his seventh purpose in all competitions.

td/iwd/nf