Atalanta boost top-six hopes in Serie A after convincing victory over Lecce

[p]AS Roma’s crushing defeat at Inter Milan earlier in the weekend opened the door for La Dea to enhance their European qualification ambitions, but they started slowly in Salento.[/p][p]Luckily for them, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lecce/G8lYsMgU/"]Lecce[/a] possess the division’s least effective attack and only mustered one early chance to break the deadlock, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fofana-sadik/nXM1Ymt4/"]Sadik Fofana[/a] blazed high over the bar, having been picked out by a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ramadani-ylber/2PPgUVm4/"]Ylber Ramadani[/a] cross.[/p][p]Once [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palladino-raffaele/619UPLrb/"]Raffaele Palladino[/a]’s men got going, it was clear that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-ketelaere-charles/2eOa3r1T/"]Charles De Ketelaere[/a] was their danger man, and the Belgian was denied by a strong save from Lecce captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/falcone-wladimiro/OCJ3DqzU/"]Wladimiro Falcone[/a] after he had linked up with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/krstovic-nikola/4CvqRml2/"]Nikola Krstovic[/a].[/p][p][b]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atalanta/8C9JjMXu/"]Atalanta[/a] opener duly arrived just before the half-hour mark with De Ketelaere again involved, this time finding [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scalvini-giorgio/hvC4gron/"]Giorgio Scalvini[/a], who breezed past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngom-oumar/UTeVGQBo/"]Oumar Ngom[/a] and lashed home his third goal of the season, two of which have come against Lecce. [/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="6078fcb4-0063-41a4-a163-f22470dd4c98" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="a4bba18d-e80a-4b57-83a4-bf4acfad40b8" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The visitors showed no sign of resting on their laurels and were perhaps disappointed not to head into the interval with a greater lead, with Krstovic twice going close to a goal against his former side, only to head over before a more powerful strike was denied by Falcone.[/p][p]Lecce’s failure to register a single shot on target before the break prompted boss Eusebio Di Francesco to introduce [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gendelman-omri/W8EvCaxc/"]Omri Gandelman[/a] at the break, but Atalanta remained on top after the restart.[/p][p]Only the offside flag saved the hosts from falling two behind when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ederson/fqEsbNyA/"]Ederson[/a] tapped in at the back post, while Falcone was quick off his line to dispossess the dangerous De Ketelaere.[/p][p][b]Inevitably, the Belgian played a starring role in Atalanta’s second, picking out Krstovic to slot into the bottom corner at his former ground – the seventh of his last nine goals to come on the road.[/b][/p][embed guid="74643655-8de8-4991-848b-d7ec8aa0191f" url="https://x.com/Atalanta_BC/status/2041161865493913831" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]La Dea were able to take their foot off the gas in the closing stages, yet still added a third through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raspadori-giacomo/GlZEnTQr/"]Giacomo Raspadori[/a]’s powerful finish, which came just moments after another Falcone save to deny Ederson. [/b][/p][p]Atalanta are now unbeaten in six head-to-heads, and serious contenders in the European qualification race, while Lecce remain inside the relegation zone after seeing their winless record against top-half opposition stretch to 17 games this season.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-ketelaere-charles/2eOa3r1T/"]Charles De Ketelaere[/a] ([b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atalanta/8C9JjMXu/"]Atalanta[/a][/b])[/b][/p][image alt="Player ratings" id="f3e5f0b8-64e3-4e75-b47f-7b3f3e2b9de6" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="0e70407d-73fb-4ad2-9daf-876902687058" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/atalanta-8C9JjMXu/lecce-G8lYsMgU/?mid=jqhEyhH5"]Catch up on the match with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]