Atalanta makes no concessions and takes to the pitch with many starters, securing passage to the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup already in the first half against Cesena: poker in the first 45 minutes, with the result becoming even more difficult in the recovery.
In the first 8 minutes the Dea immediately went up 2-0: Zappacosta found the goal in the 4th minute following a nice maneuvered move, while the second goal came with De Keteleaere who found the corner after a wonderful backheel assist from Reegui .
Then Samardzic tripled in the 27th minute with a deflected shot from the center of the area and De Ketelaere scored the 4-0 in the 35th minute at the end of an action similar to that of the 2-0: triangulation in the area (this time with Samardzic) and the goal with a crossed shot.
In the second half, the changes brought new energy: Brescianini scored immediately on an assist from Toloi, bringing the result to 5-0. Zaniolo comes close to scoring, while Samardzic scores the sixth with a precise right-footed shot. In the final, Cesena scored the winning goal with Ceesay. The final result was 6-1 and the quarter-final against Bologna was won.
A wonderful first half for Atalanta but it is not a record, given that in January 2023 they managed to score 6 goals in a single half in Serie A against Salernitana: the match ended 8-2.
For CDK it is the second brace in the Italian Cup after the one scored against Sassuolo in the round of 16 last season, a match that ended 3-1. In the season however he rose to 8 total goals with the Dea. Overall, this is De Ketelaere’s fifth double with Atalanta.
Until today Samardzic had never managed to score two goals in the same match: a feat accomplished. The former Udinese player hadn’t scored a double since the 2019/20 season, when he played for Hertha U19.
???? Marco Luzzani – 2024 Getty Images
???? Marco Luzzani – 2024 Getty Images
