Atalanta BC and Cagliari took giant steps toward avoiding relegation by beating Chievo Verona and Catania respectively in Tuesday’s rearranged Serie A games.
Maxi Moralez scored the only goal of the game to hand Atalanta a 1-0 win. The Argentine had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half.
Cagliari won 3-0 after Thiago Ribeiro put his team in front following a horrendous error from Catania goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano. Mauricio Pinilla doubled the lead and substitute Victor Ibarbo sealed the match in stoppage-time.
The 33rd round of fixtures was postponed following the death of Piermario Morosini on April 14. Morosini — on loan from Udinese — collapsed and died after suffering cardiac arrest during Livorno’s match at Pescara in Serie B.
There was a minute’s silence held by the players in Bergamo, Morosini’s hometown. Morosini had started his career in Atalanta’s youth team and the fans applauded loudly in his memory as Elvis Presley’s Always on my mind was played over the loudspeakers.
A picture of Morosini was shown on the giant screen along with the words: “Goodbye Piermario, you will always remain in our hearts,” while there were several banners with his name in the stands.
Cagliari 3, Catania 0
Catania should have taken an early lead, but Gonzalo Bergessio wasted a brilliant opportunity when he headed Giovanni Marchese’s cross narrowly wide of the left upright.
Cagliari went in front in the 21st minute when no one connected with Pinilla’s low cross in front of goal and the ball fell to Andrea Cossu, who cut it back to Ribeiro on the edge of the box. The Brazilian threaded a shot through a crowd of players and it crept into the bottom right corner.
Cagliari almost doubled its lead minutes before the break when Davide Astori’s header was cleared off the line by Catania midfielder Francesco Lodi.
Ibarbo came off the bench in the 73rd minute and sealed the result with almost his first involvement, as he raced down the left flank before crossing in for Pinilla to tap home.
Ibarbo got on the scoresheet in stoppage-time, following another swift counterattack as he sped toward the area and set up Daniele Conti, whose effort was parried back to the Colombian.
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