Atalanta swept Empoli aside 5-0 with Mateo Retegui and an Ademola Lookman brace among the goals, the Nigeria international responding to the midweek controversy.
La Dea were still smarting from not only the Champions League play-off defeat to Club Brugge, but also the fallout from Lookman’s missed penalty and the vicious Gian Piero Gasperini criticism of his insistence on taking it.
Nonetheless, Lookman returned to the starting XI for the first time since his injury in late January, as Isak Hien, Daniel Maldini, Odilon Kossounou, Giorgio Scalvini and Gianluca Scamacca missed out.
Empoli scraped two points from eight rounds and slipped into the bottom three, with Luca Marianucci still suspended, plus Nicolas Haas, Tino Anjorin, Ardian Ismajli, Mattia Viti, Jacopo Fazzini, Ola Solbakken, Saba Sazonov, Tyronne Ebuehi and Pietro Pellegri injured.
Atalanta threatened after 90 seconds, as Lookman’s roll across for Mateo Retegui was cut out by Giuseppe Pezzella, then Mattia De Sciglio crashed into Raoul Bellanova only after he had taken the shot.
Marco Silvestri also flew to palm the Davide Zappacosta curler round the far post, then the goalkeeper made a desperate save on the Berat Djimsiti header on the resulting corner
Marco Carnesecchi had his gloves stung by Christian Kouame at the near stick, but Atalanta took the lead with a bit of luck, as Zappacosta’s cross took a big deflection off Emmanuel Gyasi’s chest to loop over Silvestri into the far top corner.
