Atalanta halt Serie A slide with victory over pointless Venezia

Atalanta ended a run of three successive Serie A defeats by beating Venezia 3-1 at the Gewiss Stadium, extending their unbeaten league record against the visitors to eight matches.

The result means Atalanta have won seven and drawn one of those meetings. It also ensured they avoided a fourth consecutive defeat, something they had not suffered since January 2016.

They made the ideal start, taking the lead inside three minutes. Nikola Krstovic threaded a perfectly weighted pass through the Venezia defence for Franck Kessie, who ran beyond the back line before delicately lifting the ball over Filip Stankovic.

Krstovic soon exchanged provider for scorer. Eljif Elmas delivered a corner into the area and the forward rose to head the ball beyond Stankovic, giving the hosts a two-goal advantage.

Venezia’s goalkeeper then kept the deficit from growing when he saved Charles De Ketelaere’s effort with both hands.

Atalanta did find a third shortly after the half-hour mark. Stankovic could only parry Jonathan Rowe’s shot, and Krstovic reacted quickest to fire the rebound into the net from close range and complete his brace.

Venezia pulled one back late in the first half with their first meaningful opportunity. Richie Sagrado’s cross picked out Antoine Hainaut, who nodded the ball into the net.

Davide Zappacosta went close to restoring Atalanta’s three-goal lead before the interval, but his effort went wide as the home side went into the break ahead.

The visitors began the second half positively and threatened again when Hainaut’s delivery found Akor Adams. His header took a deflection and was diverted over the crossbar by Thomas Kristensen.

Kike Perez also tested Atalanta from distance, but Marco Carnesecchi was able to keep out his attempt. Venezia continued to search for a second goal, with John Yeboah using his pace to break clear of the defence before shooting straight at Carnesecchi.

Atalanta remained dangerous despite the pressure and Krstovic came close to completing a hat-trick, only for Stankovic to deny him and preserve Venezia’s hopes of a comeback.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men late in the match when Elmas was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Thorir Johann Helgason. Venezia could not take advantage, however, as Atalanta negotiated the closing stages without further trouble.

The victory moves Atalanta on to nine points in Serie A and offers Maurizio Sarri’s side a much-needed lift ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Conference League meeting with Pafos.

Venezia remain at the foot of the table, without a point from their opening six matches.

Nikola Krstovic was named Flashscore Man of the Match.