Atalanta creeped closer to Serie A leaders Napoli on Tuesday after drawing an entertaining match with Juventus 1-1 and moving to within four points of the summit, while AC Milan came from behind to beat Como.
Mateo Retegui salvaged a point for Atalanta with a close-range header 12 minutes from time, not long after returning to action from the bench following four weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
The Italy striker’s finish, which levelled Pierre Kalulu’s 54th-minute opener for Juve, put him out on his own at the top of the Serie A scoring charts on 13 goals and pushed Atalanta to 43 points, ahead of table-topping Napoli’s crucial trip to Bergamo this coming weekend.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, who are bidding for their first league title after winning the Europa League last season, sit level on points with second-placed Inter Milan.
However, champions Inter have two games in hand on both Atalanta and Napoli and play the first of those fixtures against Bologna at the San Siro on Wednesday.
“It was a great match tonight, and I’m very happy with the way my boys played,” said Gasperini to Sky.
“It was difficult going behind because we were hoping to go ahead but I think at the end of the day a draw is probably a fair result.”
Tuesday’s draw was Atalanta and Juve’s rescheduled fixture due to their trip to Saudi Arabia to contest the Italian Super Cup earlier this month with Inter and winners AC Milan.
Juve were again without a recognised striker due to an injury crisis which has left both Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik sidelined but Thiago Motta’s side were a constant threat.
Moments before his opener Kalulu watched on in frustration as his glancing header hit the inside of the post and was just scooped off the line
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