Tribal Football

De Ketelaere bags late winner against Empoli as Atalanta top Serie A

Duncan Hewitt
De Ketelaere celebrates his late winner
De Ketelaere celebrates his late winnerAction Plus
Atalanta BC set a new club record of 11 consecutive Serie A wins as Charles De Ketelaere’s sublime solo effort secured a thrilling 3-2 win over Empoli to leapfrog SSC Napoli and top the table at Christmas.

The visitors arrived in Bergamo boasting an impressive record on the road despite barely clinging on to a place in the top half of the Serie A table. Recent history was certainly not on their side though, with Atalanta having lost just once in their last 12 top-flight home H2Hs. 

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But the Azzurri Empolesi took a shock lead on 13 minutes when Lorenzo Colombo’s left-footed shot found the back of the net.

Tough taskmaster Gian Piero Gasperini would have been the first to guard against any complacency, and despite a slow start, Atalanta were back on level terms on 33 minutes.

A resurgent Davide Zappacosta whipped in an inviting cross for the red-hot De Ketelaere to ghost in behind the defence and clinically convert the chance with a diving header beyond Devis Vásquez.

La Dea can claim to be targeting four trophies, as they aim to build on a memorable UEFA Europa League triumph in Dublin, and on 42 minutes Berat Djimsiti’s header cannoned back off the post after another pinpoint delivery from Zappacosta.

Setting a new club record for consecutive Serie A wins, Atalanta made it a perfect 10 last week and set themselves on course for victory number 11 in first-half stoppage time.

Nicolò Zaniolo headed down De Ketelaere’s cross for Ademola Lookman – fresh from being named African Player of the Year – tapped in to cap off an excellent week for the Nigerian.

Atalanta had taken maximum points from 12 of their 16 league matches this season, but on 57 minutes, Sebastiano Esposito dented their hopes of adding to that tally.

Djimsiti became entangled with Albert Grassi in the box and after confirmation from VAR, Espositio smashed the resulting penalty straight down the middle.

As the game looked to be heading towards a draw, in a moment of magic, De Ketelaere picked up the ball on the edge of the box on 86 minutes before slaloming between four defenders and burying an arrowed strike into the corner to make it 3-2.

Gasperini’s delight was evident as his team’s brilliant winning run propelled them to the summit, with these precious three points putting them top of the tree in Serie A at Christmas.

As for Empoli, that late strike sees them drop below AS Roma and into the bottom half of the table.