Atalanta solidified their case for a top-four finish this season with a big win on Sunday as they beat Parma thanks and a brace by Luis Muriel.
The visitors responded to Napoli’s win yesterday and, in doing so, went three points ahead of Juventus and Milan, who occupy fourth and fifth place with a game in hand.
With the quest for a Champions League football, next season going down the wire with all four teams separated by three points, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side knew that only a win could keep their chances alive. And they responded to the pressure in style, completely dominating their visitors and scoring four times after the break.
Although Parma put up a fight, the visitor’s slick attack was too much for them to contain.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Ruslan Malinovsky after receiving the ball from Josip Ilicic.
Matteo Pessina was the next to score for the visitors in the 52nd minute before Luis Muriel joined the party in the 77th minute to take the game away from the hosts.
The hosts who had recorded no shot on target up to that time responded immediately, scoring with their first shot on target through Francisco Brunetta in the 78th minute.
But the goal could not spark a comeback for the hosts as Luis Muriel scored again ten minutes later to grab his second for the game and his 18th for the season in Serie A.
Parma responded almost immediately with Simon Sohm beating Sportiello to score his side’s second goal of the day after he was released by Graziano Pelle.
Aleksey Miranchuk added his name to the score sheet to wrap up the crazy game for Atalanta in the 93rd minute, unleashing a fierce drive that came off the crossbar.
The result means that Atalanta, who regained second place temporarily until Milan and Juventus play later, are now unbeaten in eight games, while relegated Parma sees their losing run extend to six games.
The hosts play Lazio next while Atalanta welcome Benevento in their next Serie-A game.
