MILAN
\nAtalanta climbed into the Serie A Champions League places with a 2-0 win at rivals Lazio on Saturday as fellow top-four hopefuls Roma stumbled to a 1-1 draw against lowly Lecce.
\nGoals from Davide Zappacosta and Rasmus Hojlund saw the Bergamo club jump from sixth to third, leapfrogging Lazio, reigning champions AC Milan and Roma in the fierce battle to qualify for Europe\u2019s top club competition.
\nMaurizio Sarri\u2019s Lazio, who could have overtaken city rivals Roma with a win at the Stadio Olimpico, dropped to sixth and lie two points off the top four.
\nAtalanta, Roma and fifth-placed Milan are level on 41 points but remain some 15 points behind runaway leaders Napoli.
\nAtalanta made the breakthrough in a breathless encounter in the Italian capital when Zappacosta unleashed a sweet strike into the top corner in the 23rd minute.
\nYoung Danish striker Hojlund doubled the advantage for Gian Piero Gasperini\u2019s men in the 65th minute, converting Ademola Lookman\u2019s cross as Lazio were made to pay for not taking their opportunities.
\n\u201cWe play these types of matches and they give you a lot of confidence,\u201d said Gasperini. \u201cTo reach the Champions League would be extraordinary.\u201d
\nJose Mourinho\u2019s Roma occupy the final Champions League spot after dropping two points at 14th-placed Lecce as Netherlands star Georginio Wijnaldum made a long-awaited return from injury.
\nThey made a terrible start when an under-pressure Roger Ibanez turned the ball into his own net from a corner in the seventh minute.
\nPaulo Dybala equalised from the penalty spot 10 minutes later following a Lecce handball as Roma reacted strongly to the early setback.
\nBut the visitors, buoyed by the return of midfielder Wijnaldum from the bench after a lengthy absence caused by a tibia fracture in August, failed to find a winner.
\nLecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone shone with a string of saves, denying Tammy Abraham on three occasions.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not the result we wanted, but it was a difficult match on a terrible pitch,\u201d said Mourinho.
\nEmpoli scored a stoppage-time equaliser as they recovered from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home to relegation-threatened Spezia, in an entertaining contest where both sides were reduced to 10 men.
\nFabiano Parisi was sent off for the hosts in the 21st minute following a VAR review after blocking a goal-bound header from a corner with his arm.
\nEmpoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario thought he had saved the resulting penalty by Daniele Verde, but the referee ordered it to be retaken for encroachment, and Verde made no mistake at the second attempt.
\nVerde gave Spezia a 2-0 lead with a stunning long-range strike in the 31st minute, but Salvatore Esposito\u2019s red card for a second bookable offence shortly after half-time saw the match swing in Empoli\u2019s favour.
\nNicolo Cambiaghi halved the deficit with a goal in the 71st minute before Emanuel Vignato\u2019s injury-time equaliser denied what would have been a valuable win for Spezia, who lie in 17th place, five points above the relegation zone.
\nOlivier Giroud ended AC Milan\u2019s dramatic slump with the only goal in a 1-0 win over Torino at the San Siro on Friday.
\nThe France striker\u2019s header from a Theo Hernandez cross in the second half snapped the champions\u2019 three-match losing streak in the Italian top flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MILAN Atalanta climbed into the Serie A Champions League places with a 2-0 win at rivals Lazio on Saturday as fellow top-four hopefuls Roma stumbled to a 1-1 draw against lowly Lecce. Goals from Davide Zappacosta and Rasmus Hojlund saw the Bergamo club jump from sixth to third, leapfrogging Lazio, reigning champions AC Milan and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-313385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n