Atalanta moved joint top in Italy with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina on Sunday while, at Sassuolo, Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi became the first woman to referee a Serie A match.
Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman scored the only goal of the game in the 59th minute, although it was all about the assist by Luis Muriel.
Atalanta moved level with Napoli, which beat Torino 3-1 on Saturday. They are three points above defending champion AC Milan and Lazio.
Lazio beat Spezia 4-0 earlier Sunday.
Atalanta was without a number of players through injury and suspension but wasted chances to take the lead.
There was a moment of controversy shortly before halftime when Fiorentina forward Christian Kouamé was shown a straight red card after contact with Atalanta midfielder Marten de Roon but it was revoked after the referee reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Atalanta finally broke the deadlock 14 minutes into the second half when Muriel gathered a throw-in with his back to goal, turned and skipped past two players before pulling it back for Lookman to tap in from close range.
The home side should have doubled its lead shortly after but Joakim Mæhle fired straight at Pietro Terracciano after being sent through one on one with the Fiorentina goalkeeper.
HISTORY
Ferrieri Caputi became the first woman to referee a Serie A game when she took charge of Sassuolo’s 5-0 win over Salernitana.
There was little controversy in a dominant performance by the home side, although Ferrieri Caputi did award a penalty for Sassuolo’s second goal.
MORALE BOOST
Juventus rebounded from a disappointing defeat to promoted Monza with a 3-0 win over Bologna.
Filip Kostić netted his first goal for the club in the first half and Dušan Vlahović and Arkadiusz Krystian Milik scored after the break. Milik also sent a header onto the post late on.
It was only a third win in eight league matches for Juventus and sent it to seventh in the standings.
After beating Juventus before the international break for its first-ever Serie A win, Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza made it two wins out of two with a 3-0 victory at bottom club Sampdoria,
Also, Lecce drew 1-1 at home to Cremonese.
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