Game-set-match at the Gewiss Stadium: Hellas vanquished 6-1

An undisputed football and goals galore premiered at the Gewiss Stadium as the 2024-2025 Serie A MD9 saw Atalanta impose themselves 6-1 over Hellas Verona after putting up a flawless first-half display. Lookman's and Retegui's doubles together with goals from captain De Roon and De Ketelaere help secure the win that hoists the Nerazzurri to 16 points in the Serie A standings on the day that marked coach Gian Piero Gasperini's 400th game at the helm of Atalanta across all competitions.

The Nerazzurri got off to a lightning start and broke the deadlock within six minutes when Lookman rolled the ball across for De Roon to slot home. Three minutes later, Gasperini's men doubled their lead after the Verona defenders charged down Lookman's effort but could do nothing on Retegui's left-foot shot into the far bottom corner.

After Ghilardi and Montipò shielded Retegui and Lookman's efforts respectively, came the Nerazzurri's third of the night inside the quarter-hour mark: Lookman plays on to De Ketelaere, who combs the ball on the left flank before bursting through the middle and cleaving the ball into the far bottom corner with an exquisite finesse curler. The Nerazzurri neared the fourth on 25 minutes when Montipò performed a last-ditch save on Retegui's thunderous header.

Atalanta struck the haul right before the 30-minute mark courtesy of a headstrong Lookman who, after retrieving the ball, cut inside the box and vanquished Montipò with a snooker shot on the near post. 34 minutes in and 5 Nerazzurri on the scoresheet: after Éderson wroke havoc across the left flank, De Ketelaere's back-heel pass freed Lookman, who only had to tap the ball in at will to ratify the black-and-blue "manita" with his second of the game. Verona retorted one minute later through Sarr, who had his effort deflected by the post. The hosts pulled one back with Sarr who hammered the ball into the top corner on 42 minutes. The last chance of the first half came through Retegui's boots, though as our number 32 finalised on the outer netting.

In the second half, the Nerazzurri picked up where they left off as the crossbar denied Lookman the hattrick: after a give-and-go with de Roon, the Nigerian forward's shot was deflected off a defender and onto the bar. 58 minutes and goal number 6 for the Nerazzurri: De Ketelaere unleashed Retegui, who reached the double-digit (namely, 10 goals in 9 Serie A games) with a sub-zero finish in the one-on-one against Montipò. On 84 minutes Carnesecchi proved himself well alert to thwart Dani Silva's ranged finish. With the 6-1 walkover at the Gewiss Stadium completed, the Nerazzurri have claimed their third consecutive Serie A win.

ATALANTA 6-1 HELLAS VERONA

Scorers: De Roon 6 (A), Retegui 9, 58 (A), De Ketelaere 14 (A), Lookman 29, 34 (A), Sarr 42 (HV)

Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Djimsiti, Hien, Kolašinac (Palestra 77), Zappacosta (Bellanova 56), Éderson (Pašalić 56), de Roon, Ruggeri, De Ketelaere, Retegui (Zaniolo 62), Lookman (Samardžić 56). Unused bench: Rui Patrício, Rossi, Toloi, Godfrey, Sulemana, Cuadrado, Comi, Steffanoni. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.

Hellas Verona: Montipò, Ghilardi, Magnani, Coppola (Lazovic 46), Tchatchoua, Belahyane, Serdar (Suslov 67), Bradaric (Daniliuc 46), Kastanos (Dani Silva 46) Livramento (Alidou 79), Sarr. Unused bench: Perilli, Magro, Faraoni, Lambourde, Tengstedt, Okou, Sishuba, Mosquera, Ajayi, Cisse. Coach: Paolo Zanetti.

Referee: Mr. Ermanno Feliciani from Teramo;
Assistant referees: Filippo Bercigli from Firenze and Vittorio Di Gioia from Nola;
Fourth official: Livio Marinelli from Tivoli;
V.A.R.: Davide Massa from Imperia;
A.V.A.R.: Valerio Marini from Roma 1.

Notes: Bradaric (HV) booked.