Coppa Italia Primavera, Atalanta 2-0 Empoli

By imposing themselves 2-0 at the Centro Bortolotti in Zingonia, Atalanta Primavera passed their RO16 test against Empoli with flying colours and punched their tickets to the Coppa Italia quarterfinals.

The match between Atalanta and Empoli got off to a balanced start, with the Nerazzurri making the first move through Baldo. The Tuscans also looked to make their mark, with their striker Akpa-Chukwu testing the waters. In the 21st minute, the deadlock was broken: after a well-constructed play on the right, Simonetto pounced on the rebound following Baldo's shot hitting the post to make it 1-0 for the hosts in Zingonia. Just a minute later, Capac nearly doubled the lead, but his effort was kept out by the opposing goalkeeper. Baldo made it 2-0 in the 34th minute, wrongfooting Vertua with an edge-of-the-box finish.

In the second half, both teams kept pushing forward from the get-go, but the score stayed locked. While Bonanomi and Damiano were inches away from putting the game to bed on several occasions and Michieletto also had a go in the dying minutes, the scoreline stayed put until the end as coach Bosi's lads secured a 2-0 home win at the Centro Bortolotti.

ATALANTA 2-0 EMPOLI

Scorers: Simonetto 21 (A), Baldo 34 (A)

Atalanta: Sala, Gobbo, Simonetto, Riccio (Bonanomi 46), Capac (Michieletto 63), Mencaraglia (Steffanoni 63), Tavanti, Baldo (Damiano 63), Armstrong, Ramaj, Idele. Unused bench: Zanchi, Isoa, Mungari, Bilać, Arrigoni, Maffessoli, Bono. Coach: Giovanni Bosi.

Empoli: Vertua, Moray (Boldrini 46), Majdandzic (Bagordo 81), Asmussen, Akpa-Chukwu (Busiello 64), Cesari, Monaco, Huqi (Olivieri 59), Matteazzi (Baralla 59), Mannelli, Rugani. Unused bench: Poggiolini, Versari, Bacciardi, Mboumbou, Tavernini, Tavanti. Coach: Alessandro Birindelli.

Referee: Stefano Milone from Taurianova (Assistant referees: Davide Merciari from Rimini and Gianluca Scardovi from Imola).

Notes: -

Pictured on the cover Riccio Baldo and Capac