It was a stalemate in Bergamo, as Atalanta U19 and Napoli U19 kept each other off the score sheet in a match between direct rivals in the battle for survival.
Lineup
Nicolò Frustalupi made two changes to the squad he fielded in the loss to Torino. Luigi D’Avino started over Benedetto Barba at centre back and Bilel Sahli started over Antonio Pesce at striker.
(3-4-2-1) Boffelli; Hysaj, D’Avino, Obaretin; Acampa, Gioielli, Alastuey, Marchisano; Iaccarino, Spavone; Sahli
Match
Though the first half was competitive, neither side created an abundance of chances. Napoli threatened first in the 9th minute after Valerio Boffelli played a long ball forward. Bilel Sahli flicked a header to Alessandro Spavone, who did well to take the ball down and dribble past midfielder Samuele Ghezzi in one motion. The trequartista went for goal from the edge of the area, and though he got decent power behind the ball, the shot was straight at goalkeeper Tommaso Bertini.
Atalanta responded with a chance of their own two minutes later. After a lovely give-and-go near the right touch line, Lorenzo Bernasconi played an in-swinging cross with the instep of his left boot. Vanja Vlahovic won the header in the area, but the ball fell comfortably into the waiting gloves of Boffelli
Atalanta got their best chance of the half from a corner kick three minutes later. Bernasconi played another in-swinging cross into the area. Central defender Alessio Guerini won the header in front of the Napoli goal, but Davide Acampa cleared the ball off the line.
Moments later Napoli made claims for a penalty kick, after Danie Hysaj’s cross was blocked by Guerini in the area. However, the ball appeared to strike the defender in the head, and the match official was correct to not award the penalty.
After half-chances were exchanged at either end of the pitch, Napoli created their best chance of the half in the 36th minute. Francesco Gioielli played a vertical pass to Spavone, who showed his great close ball control at the edge of the area. Spavone rolled the ball to Sahli on the left side of the area but his low shot towards the bottom corner at the near post was stopped by Bertini.
Second Half
The second half started well for the visitors, creating their first chance only five minutes after the restart. Gennaro Iaccarino chipped the ball to Sahli in the area. The winger-turned-striker did well to hold the ball up before playing a backheel return pass to Iaccarino. The Napoli captain teed Jorge Alastuey at the edge of the area, but the effort with his weaker right boot bounced harmlessly into the outside of the goal.
From that point onward, Atalanta began to take control of the match. La Dea had their best chance of the half in the 58th minute after Hysaj inadvertently handled the ball in the centre of the midfield, 30 yards from the Napoli goal. Bernasconi ambitiously went direct for goal and would have found the back of the goal had it not been for Boffelli, who stretched fully to push the shot aside.
Napoli’s final chance of the match came in 65th minute, after a lovely exchange between Alastuey, Spavone, Acampa and Gioielli. The buildup ended with Gioielli flicking the ball to Spavone at the edge of the area, but the forward pulled his shot wide of the goal.
Atalanta were most threatening from the set piece and came close again from a corner kick in the 78th minute. Boffelli got a hand on Bernasconi’s in-swinging cross before Acampa cleared the ball off the line for the second time in the match.
Ultimately, neither side was able to find the back of the goal. With Hellas Verona and Cagliari defeating Cesena and Juventus, respectively, the Azzurrini fell further behind in the battle for survival. Inter, Sampdoria and Milan all have a game in hand.
