Coach Gian Piero Gasperini was pleased with Atalanta’s 1-1 Champions League draw against Manchester City given that they lost 5-1 against them last month. The Italian Serie A outfit had the audacity to open the scoring at the Etihad Stadium in Group C a fortnight ago but City hit back and dished out a thrashing.
Wednesday’s return game at the San Siro looked to be heading in the same direction when Raheem Sterling fired City in front after just seven minutes.
However, Chelsea loannee Mario Pasalic equalised for La Dea four minutes after the restart and Atalanta had a great chance to win it in the final 10 minutes when City’s substitute goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was sent off for a sliding tackle on Josip Ilicic outside the box.
Bravo had earlier replaced the injured Ederson so full-back Kyle Walker had to take over in goal for the remainder of the match.
The hosts failed to take advantage of the extra man advantage but still picked up their first point in the group stages.
Speaking afterwards Gasperini said: “We earned a great point. We learned our lesson from the first match. “The aim was to qualify but we can at least try to get Europa League football. It is very tough to cause problems for a team like Manchester City as we did tonight.”
Atalanta are four points adrift of both Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk with two games remaining against both sides in the group.
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