Series A | Roma 0-2 Atalanta: Unstoppable Dea demise, sorry Giallorossi

ROME, ITALY – DECEMBER 02: Marten de Roon of Atalanta scores his team’s first goal during the Serie A match between AS Roma and Atalanta at Stadio Olimpico on December 02, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

Marten de Roon’s deflected shot and a late header from Nicolò Zaniolo against his old club handed Roma their fourth consecutive defeat in Serie A and gave Atalanta their eighth straight win.

The Giallorossi made their home debut under Claudio Ranieri, who lost away to Napoli and made a spectacular comeback with a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday. With Mario Hermoso injured and Nicolò Pisilli suspended, Paulo Dybala returned to the starting lineup in a 3-5-2 formation. La Dea won seven straight Serie A games and beat Young Boys 6-1 on Tuesday, although Davide Zappacosta, Ben Godfrey and Gianluca Scamacca were still out of action.

See how everything developed in the live blog.

Leandro Paredes hit Marco Carnesecchi in the gloves with a long-range shot in the fourth minute, then Manu Koné fired a similar shot just inches past the top corner, leaving the goalkeeper standing.

Ademola Lookman had the ball in the net after 23 minutes but was offside when he redirected Raoul Bellanova’s wayward volley at the back post.

Charles De Ketelaere fired an Ederson cross into the arms of Mile Svilar, and Mats Hummels prevented Mateo Retegui from cutting in from six meters after Odilon Kossounou pulled back from the byline.

Immediately after the break, Roma had a huge chance. Dovbyk, in full swing, only managed to graze a brilliant Dybala finish when he was kept onside by Matteo Ruggeri while Carnesecchi managed to keep the ball away.

ROME, ITALY - DECEMBER 02: Artem Dovbyk of AS Roma shoots and misses during the Serie A match between AS Roma and Atalanta at Stadio Olimpico on December 02, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images) — ROME, ITALY – DECEMBER 2: Artem Dovbyk of AS Roma shoots and misses during the Serie A match between AS Roma and Atalanta at Stadio Olimpico on December 2, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

Nicolò Zaniolo was loudly mocked by the home fans when he came on as a substitute against his former club, who had left the club in rather bitter circumstances.

Atalanta took the lead at the end of a long attacking game when a free kick at the end of the penalty area fell to Marten de Roon, whose shot took a heavy deflection off Zeki Celik and Svilar went completely wide.

Hummels hobbled away, touching his thigh, and Roma almost equalized when Alexis Saelemaekers deflected a cross inside and found Gianluca Mancini at the back post, but with all his effort the defender failed to direct the ball towards goal .

Bryan Cristante also had a muscle injury and Ederson should have made it 2-0 when he shot past the inside of the boot from six yards as Marco Brescianini rolled over from the left.

Zaniolo was mocked even louder when he doubled Atalanta’s lead in the final minute with a glancing header from a Juan Cuadrado corner and blocked a shot from Mancini only to direct it into the far top corner from a difficult angle. He took off his shirt and ran to celebrate wildly among the away fans behind the goal, savoring the moment against his former club.