Serie A – Kessie scores a quick goal and Krstovic nets a brace as Atalanta defeats Venezia 3-1 at home.

In the sixth round of the 2026/27 Serie A season, Atalanta hosted Venezia at home. They ultimately won 3-1, finishing tenth with a record of 3 wins and 3 losses, accumulating 9 points.

Venezia remained at the bottom of Serie A after this match, suffering their sixth defeat of the season.

Facing a clearly weaker Venezia side, Atalanta took the lead from the outset. In the 4th minute, Nikola Krstovic delivered a through ball, and Frank Kessie broke into the penalty area and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to open the scoring. In the 6th minute, Erjif Elmas delivered a corner kick from the right, and Krstovic headed the ball into the net at the near post to extend Atalanta's lead.

After taking a two-goal lead, Inter Milan continued to pressure their opponents. In the 9th minute, Jonathan Roy cut inside from the left and delivered a diagonal pass, but Charles de Cateralé's shot inside the box was saved by Filip Stankovic. In the 19th minute, Stankovic almost gifted a goal, but Kessie's lob from outside the box was cleared off the line by Reduan Haljar. In the 30th minute, Raul Bellanova broke through to the edge of the box and delivered a diagonal pass, Roy's follow-up low shot forced a save from Stankovic. Krstovic saw this and pounced on the rebound to score, making it 3-0.

However, Venezia grew stronger as the game progressed. Towards the end of the first half, they finally seized an opportunity to pull one back: in the 37th minute, Ricci Sagrado crossed from the left, and Antoine Eno headed the ball into the net.

At the start of the second half, both sides engaged in an attacking battle. In the 54th minute, Enno crossed from the right wing, and Alco Adams' header at the near post hit the post. In the 56th minute, Adams played a through ball from the edge of the box, and John Yeboa's shot was again denied by the woodwork. In the 57th minute, Kessie passed the ball to the right wing, and Krstovic's powerful shot was brilliantly saved by Stankovic. In the 58th minute, Elmas' corner kick from the right was headed towards goal by Ederson, but it was still caught by Stankovic. In the 60th minute, Yeboa's long pass from midfield linked up with Adams, who scored a one-on-one goal, but was ruled offside.

In the 63rd minute, Bellanova delivered a cross from the right wing, and Krstovic's header inside the penalty area went wide of the left. Less than half a minute later, Yeboa sprinted from midfield into the penalty area and unleashed a low shot that was saved by Marco Kaneseki. In the 69th minute, Lazar Samardzic passed the ball to the right wing, and Elmas's shot after breaking into the penalty area was saved by Stankovic. In the 70th minute, Samardzic delivered a cross from the right side of the penalty area, and Thomas Christensen's header at the far post went slightly wide. In the 82nd minute, Yeboa took a short corner from the right, and Adams' header at the far post went just over the bar.

In the 89th minute, Erjif Elmas made a diving tackle on Johan Tori Helgason in midfield and was shown a red card after VAR intervention. Neither side managed to score again, and the final score remained 3-1.

Image source: Internet/Atlanta official website