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Serie A

Atalanta Beat Roma 2-1, Guaranteeing UCL Football And Ending A Ranieri Record

Atalanta Beat Roma 2-1, Guaranteeing UCL Football And Ending A Ranieri Record

Atalanta have mathematically guaranteed Champions League football with Ademola Lookman and Ibrahim Sulemana goals, ending Roma’s 19-match unbeaten Serie A run.

This was a huge fight between third and joint-fourth, as the Giallorossi had the opportunity to leapfrog both Lazio and Juventus after their 1-1 draw. La Dea had Isak Hien suspended, Juan Cuadrado, Sead Kolasinac, Marco Palestra, Giorgio Scalvini and Gianluca Scamacca injured, while Ademola Lookman and Odilon Kossounou started despite not being at 100 per cent. Roma were unbeaten in 19 Serie A rounds, but the season was over for Lorenzo Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala, so they moved to a 3-4-2-1 formation with Matias Soulé in a more advanced role.

Charles De Ketelaere just failed to get on the end of a flicked on cross at the back post, while Bryan Cristante stung Marco Carnesecchi’s gloves from distance.

Lookman was in doubt to feature with an Achilles tendon inflammation, but he opened the scoring when gathering with his back to goal from De Ketelaere, turning Devyn Rensch and firing in from 13 yards.

Ederson almost made it 2-0 after nutmegging a defender, but fired over the bar, with Manu Kone’s strike deflected over after Kossounou was caught napping and De Ketelaere prodding wide from six yards on an Ederson lay-off.

Atalanta wasted a big double opportunity, as first Mile Svilar got down to parry the De Ketelaere finish from 10 yards, then Mateo Retegui fired the rebound over.

Those chances were costly, because a corner was cleared with difficulty and Soulé put the cross onto the head of Bryan Cristante, who with his back to goal flicked it into the far top corner from eight yards.

Roma should’ve turned it around on the stroke of half-time when Eldor Shomurodov skinned a defender, but Manu Kone’s first touch on the assist was awful and the chance went begging.

Shomurodov tested Carnesecchi after the restart and the referee pointed to the spot on 63 minutes when Manu Kone win it back in midfield, combined with Angelino and went down under a Mario Pasalic challenge. However, the penalty was revoked following a VAR On-Field Review, as Kone ran into Pasalic.

Ibrahim Sulemana’s control and half-volley from the edge of the area was deflected by a desperate Rensch sliding block and on the resulting corner Berat Djimsiti nodded over.

Lookman also bent his finish just wide of the far post and Atalanta finally made the pressure count when Lookman ran down the left, rolled across for Lazar Samardzic to lay it off, allowing Sulemana to drill through a sea of legs from the edge of the area.

There was a bizarre moment during the celebration, as an Atalanta supporter ran onto the pitch and ‘scored’ by kicking the ball past Svilar.

Roma pushed hard with a Soulé free kick sailing just wide of the far top corner and Alexis Saelemaekers pulling back from the by-line to force a desperate clearance.

In stoppages Svilar went up for a corner and Carnesecchi fingertipped it off his head, the Pisilli overhead kick charged down by Berat Djimsiti’s face. They suffered their first Serie A defeat since 2-0 away to Como on December 15 and slipped down to sixth place.

Atalanta 2-1 Roma
Lookman 9 (A), Cristante 32 (R), Sulemana 76 (A)

Football-italia.net

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Serie A

Star Napoli Striker Wants Torino Move

Star Napoli Striker Wants Torino Move

Napoli striker Cyril Ngonge wants to reunite with his former Hellas Verona coach Marco Baroni at Torino.

Napoli striker Ngonge wants to leave the Stadio Maradona to reunite with his former coach, Baroni, at Torino.

Ngonge wants Torino move
Sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell me that the 25-year-old is eager to play for the Granata under the manager who saw him score six goals in 21 Verona games in his debut Serie A season.

Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic is also directly involved as Napoli are strongly interested in the Serbia international.

Napoli to make Milinkovic-Savic decision
The Partenopei haven’t yet decided whether to pay his €20m clause and are aware that Milinkovic-Savic hasn’t yet received offers from foreign clubs.

Napoli will decide in the coming days, keeping an eye on the Alex Meret situation, as the Italian goalkeeper’s contract expires at the end of the month.

Ngonge joined Napoli in a €20m deal from Verona in the 2024 January transfer window.

The Belgium international has scored three goals in 35 appearances with the Partenopei.

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Serie A

Dzeko Joins Fiorentina; Kean Stays? Esposito a Target

Dzeko Joins Fiorentina; Kean Stays? Esposito A Target

Fiorentina are on the verge of announcing the signing of Edin Dzeko, hope to retain Moise Kean at the Stadio Franchi, but are also following Inter’s Sebastiano Esposito.

Fiorentina are set to make some changes to their attacking department in 2025-26 and will soon confirm the signing of Dzeko on a free transfer.

The ex-Roma and Inter striker completed his medical on Thursday and already visited Fiorentina’s training facilities.

Fiorentina hope they won’t need a replacement for Kean, who has a release clause that can be activated in July. For the moment, the Tuscans and their strikers have not received formal approaches.

Fiorentina interested in Esposito
Even if Kean stays at the Stadio Franchi, Fiorentina would not rule out another signing in attack, sources tell me.

The Tuscans, in fact, are following Inter’s Sebastiano Esposito, who has one year left in his contract with the Nerazzurri.

Esposito is also followed by Parma and has been mentioned for a possible player-plus-cash swap deal for Ange-Yoan Bonny.

Football-italia.net

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Serie A

Parma Appoint Carlos Cuesta As Head Coach

Parma Appoint Carlos Cuesta As Head Coach

Parma have confirmed the appointment of Arsenal coach Carlos Cuesta as their new head coach, following a period of intense speculation over the past week.

From Arsenal to Italy…
After serving as Mikel Arteta’s assistant at the Premier League side, Cuesta will take over the reigns of Parma on July 1 – signing a two-year deal until June 2027, with an optional extension of a further year.

Cuesta, 29, spent five years in North London with the Gunners, quickly establishing himself as an integral part of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s set-up, despite his relatively young age.

Prior to his time at the Emirates, Cuesta spent two years as an assistant coach within Juventus’ youth academy, so this will not be his first experience coaching in Italy.

Speaking in a statement on their official website, Parma wrote “Parma Calcio is pleased to announce that, starting from 1 July, Carlos Cuesta will be the technical director of the Men’s First Team.

“Cuesta, born in Palma de Mallorca on 29 July 1995, has signed a two-year contract until 30 June 2027, with an option to extend for the following season.

“President Kyle J. Krause and the entire Parma Calcio family extend a warm welcome to Carlos.

“The presentation of the coach is scheduled for Thursday 26 June at 15:00, in the “Gianfranco Bellè” press room of the Ennio Tardini stadium in Parma.”

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