Atalanta 5 Monza 2
Teun Koopmeiners netted a hat-trick for Atalanta as they maintained a 100% competitive home record against Monza with a barn-storming 5-2 victory on a pulsating final night of Serie A action in Bergamo.
With a spot in the UEFA Europa League on the line, Atalanta knew only three points would be good enough in order to secure a top-six finish in Serie A.
Much to the delight of those packed inside the Gewiss Stadium, it took only 12 minutes for the hosts to kick proceedings off, with Koopmeiners glancing home a delicate header from inside the penalty area.
Had it not been for a wayward effort from Monza’s Carlos Augusto midway through the first half, the visitors - who hadn’t lost in their previous six Serie A away games - could’ve finished the half on level terms. Instead, it was Atalanta who netted the second goal of the match just before the break, with Koopmeiners doubling his growing tally for the game.
Having first been denied by goalkeeper Di Gregorio, the 25-year-old showed a calm head inside the six-yard box to smartly skip beyond the covering defender and slide home into an empty net.
Dominative in all areas of the pitch, there was perhaps an element of shock floating around the Gewiss when the away side pulled a goal back shortly after the restart.
Stroking home a right-footed curler from outside the penalty area, former Atlanta man Andrea Colpani looked to have set up a grand-stand second-half finish.
Instead, it would prove the start of a crazy sequence of play with Monza reduced to 10 men shortly after, as defender Marlon was shown a straight red card just one minute after being brought on as a substitute.
Now with a reason to take the game to their opponents, Atalanta pushed their foot down on the gas pedal, scoring twice inside five minutes to stretch out into what looked to be an unassailable lead. Rasmus Hojlund - who has enjoyed a stellar breakout campaign at the Bergamo-based outfit - wrapped up his season in fine fashion by latching onto the end of Koopmeiners back-post cross, before the Dutchman himself secured a memorable hat-trick with a truly astonishing 40-yard strike from the halfway line.
But of course, true to the nature of final-day clashes, the scoring wouldn’t finish there, as Andrea Petagna ensured Monza would finish their first top-flight campaign with a flourish, by netting what proved to be a consolation late in the game.
Lobbing goalkeeper Marco Sportiello with a cute chip from inside the penalty area, the goal didn’t prove to be the start of a memorable comeback, not least because Luis Muriel netted the home side’s fifth of the evening deep into added time, wrapping up a memorable evening of action in Lombardy.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta)
Check out all the stats from the game with Flashscore.
Lecce 2 Bologna 3
Bologna finished in the top-half of the Serie A table for only the second time since 2015 thanks to a tight 3-2 win against Lecce, with a late double-blast seeing the Rossoblù end up ninth in the final standings.
Having secured top-flight safety last time out, Lecce welcomed Bologna to Stadio Via del Mare already guaranteed to end up 16th, while the visitors could finish anywhere between eighth and 11th depending on other results.
The hosts were on a three-game unbeaten streak and they started the game full of confidence, almost taking the lead inside a minute when Gabriel Strefezza forced Łukasz Skorupski into a smart save.
However, Bologna’s reprieve was fleeting, and Lecce deservedly took the lead shortly after that flashpoint, as Lameck Banda took a great first touch on the edge of the box before curling the ball inside the right-hand post.
Bologna almost drew level when Marko Arnautovic did brilliantly to send a snapshot flying into the bottom corner, but it was ruled out for offside after a very tight VAR review.
Seizing on Lecce’s own let-off, Banda missed a golden opportunity to score his and the Giallorossi’s second goal of the game when he powered a header straight at Skorupski from close range, keeping the scoreline at just 1-0 as the players headed in for the final break of 2022/23.
The visitors had only lost twice in their last twelve games and they came out in the second half looking like a team that was tough to beat, deservedly equalising just before the hour mark when Musa Barrow sent in a terrific cross that was gobbled up by an Arnautovic header to make it 1-1.
Substitute Assan Ceesay missed a great opportunity to snatch a late winner for his side after he blasted an effort at Skorupski from close range.
Ceesay was made to pay for his miss as Bologna took the lead with ten minutes to play when Joshua Zirkzee made an instant impact off the bench to supply a neat finish into the bottom corner for 2-1.
Leece kept pushing for a leveller regardless, and spurred on by a jubilant home fan base, Remi Oudin scored one of the goals of the season when he volleyed in Valentin Gendrey’s cross past a hapless Skorupski.
But this topsy-turvy game was not done there and with the last kick of the season, substitute Lewis Ferguson curled a beauty in off the post to stun Lecce and end another mid-table season on a winning note.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marko Arnautovic (Bologna)
Check out all the stats from the game with Flashscore.
Udinese 0 Juventus 1
Juventus missed out on a top-six finish in Serie A despite ending the season with a 1-0 victory over Udinese, who succumbed to four consecutive league defeats for the first time since October 2018.
The Bianconeri have been blighted by controversy in a season where alleged wrongdoings took the focus away from their playing exploits. After managing to avoid an additional SA points deduction this week, Juventus arrived in Udine knowing victory and a favour from Spezia against Roma would claim a top-six finish and a UEFA Europa League place.
Despite a place in Europe’s secondary cup competition at stake, it was Udinese that created the only chance of note in the opening exchanges after Beto headed over from Florian Thauvin’s enticing cross.
Massimiliano Allergi’s side grew into the contest after a slow start, and Marco Silvestri did brilliantly to tip Juan Cuadrado’s free-kick around the post. Filip Kostic then picked out Leonardo Bonucci, but the centre-back's header rose high over the crossbar.
Bonucci came even closer to breaking the deadlock when his header cannoned off the bar, before Silvestri and Nehuen Perez combined to block Federico Chiesa's effort.
Juventus brought on the enterprising Samuel Iling-Junior after the break, and the England Under-20 international almost made an immediate impact when his cross was narrowly missed by the onrushing Chiesa in the box.
Meanwhile, the hosts were forced into a change when the injured Walace was replaced by Tolgay Arslan - the latter making his final appearance for the Friulani.
The visitors were still knocking on the door, as Angel Di Maria was introduced and provided a perfectly-timed pass to Adrien Rabiot, who agonisingly hit the side-netting with his resulting strike.
But Allegri’s side got the goal which their endeavour deserved thanks to Chiesa, who showed superb composure inside the box to fire home an angled strike into the bottom corner.
The strike crucially propelled Juventus into a Europa League place, but Sandi Lovri almost hit back straight away with a stunning long-range strike which was pushed away by Wojciech Szczesny.
Allegri’s men hung onto their lead to secure only a fourth win in their last 10 league games, but Paulo Dybala’s late penalty secured Roma a 2-1 win over Spezia in a cruel twist of fate for the Turin outfit.
They would have to settle for seventh place and the consolation prize of UEFA Europa Conference League football, but UEFA could yet decide to exclude the club from European competition. As for Udinese, they finished a respectable season in 12th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
