Triestina 1-5 Atalanta U23s
Vlahović made it three to seize the Nereo Rocco stadium
As the black-and-blue storm raged on Trieste, Atalanta U23 walked off the Nereo Rocco stadium with the full three points, a 5-1 walkover against Triestina and their second consecutive away win. While Panada, Vavassori and Vlahović (the night's hat-trick hero) hogged the scoring spotlight, Scheffer spared no time and topped off the team's roaring success with a key pass on his substitute debut.
The Nerazzurri broke the deadlock as early as 3 minutes into the game through Vlahović, who converted Panada's through pass after an offensive retrieval through a sub-zero cool finish. On 12 minutes it was Navarro, who neared the second following a corner set-piece and forced Ross' last ditch save on the line after prodding the ball.. Upon bursting into the box from the left flank on 21 minutes, Cassa left (almost) the whole opposing defence in the dust before hseeing hsi shot blocked by Sturna. The visitors' doubled on 27 minutes at the end of a superbly-executed counter as Vlahović and Panada opted for a role-reversal that saw the Serbian striker assist the seasonal scoring debut of the black-and-blue mid. The hosts eventually pulled one back on 34 minutes when D'Urso capitalized on Dajcar's rebound.
Dittoing the opening minutes of the game, coach Modesto's Nerazzurri got off to a strong second-half start with De Nipoti earning himself a penalty after dribbling his way past two Triestina defenders. Despite seeing his effort from the spot neutralised by Ross, the black-and-blue number 9 didn't lose heart and favoured another offensive play on 48 minutes: after dribbling his way down the wing, De Nipoti unleashed Del Lungo's encroachement in the box, with the U23s wingback pulling off a corner kick from his powerful finish. While Dajcar proved himself well alert on Vertainen's 57-minutes back-heel finish, Atalanta made it three in the 63rd: upon retrieving the ball and spinning a similar play to the one that brought about the opener, Bergonzi served Vavassori, who sew panic among the opposing defence before going for a shot. Although the hosts managed to smothered Vavassori's attempt in the first instance, Vlahović relentlessly followed suit with the winning tap-in to make it 3-1 and to seal his second seasonal brace. While Bernasconi smacked the bar from a free-kick in the 75th, Vavassori scored the t4th of the night 5 minutes later by converting De Nipoti's assist in the mano-a-mano against Ross. Lastly golden subbed Scheffer also left his mark on the game by assisting Vlahović's hat-trick with a pinpoint pass from the flank.
TRIESTINA 1-5 ATALANTA U23s
Scorers: Vlahović 3, 63, 85 (A), Panada 27 (A), D'Urso 34 (T), Vavassori 80 (A)
Triestina: Ross, Vallocchia, El Azrak (Attys 46), Vertainen, Struna (C), Correia (Vicario 67), D'Urso (Krollis 67), Rizzo, Voca, Braima (Jonsson 76), Pavlev. Unused subs: Borriello, Diakite, Frare, Moretti, Ballarini, Thordarson. Coach: Michele Santoni.
Atalanta U23s: Dajcar, Tornaghi, Del Lungo, Gyabuaa (C), De Nipoti (Scheffer 82), Panada (Manzoni 82), Cassa (Vavassori 60), Bernasconi, Navarro (Obrić 82), Bergonzi, Vlahović. Unused subs: Zanchi, Bertini, Muhameti, Alessio, Sodero, Idele, Chiwisa. Coach: Francesco Modesto.
Referee: Alberto Poli from Verona.
Assistant Referees: Gianluca Scardovi from Imola and Luigi Ferraro from Frattamaggiore.
Fourth Official: Luigi Scicolone from San Donà di Piave.
Notes: Panada (A), Navarro (A), Braima (T), Modesto (A) booked.