Ederson, Zappacosta and Raspadori sink Milan as Atalanta survive a late rally at San Siro
Atalanta arrived at San Siro and had Milan three down inside an hour. Éderson opened the scoring on seven minutes, Davide Zappacosta added a second on 29, and Giacomo Raspadori finished it off on 51 with a curling shot under the bar. A late Strahinja Pavlović header and a Christopher Nkunku penalty deep in stoppage time gave the home side a flicker of hope, but Atalanta held on for a 3-2 win that puts Milan's Champions League qualification in serious doubt.
Atalanta start fast, then keep going
The first goal arrived in the seventh minute through Éderson. Twenty-two minutes later Zappacosta doubled the lead. Adrien Rabiot rattled the post at the other end before the break, but the score at half-time still felt about right.
Six minutes after the restart Éderson turned creator, picking out Raspadori in space on the angle. The forward took a touch and curled a finish past Mike Maignan into the far top corner. At 3-0 with most of the second half to play, the contest looked done.
Late rally falls short
Milan only began to threaten when Massimiliano Allegri's substitutions arrived. Nkunku clipped the crossbar before Samuele Ricci delivered a free-kick to the back post on 88 minutes that Pavlović headed in. Nkunku then dispatched a penalty in the fourth minute of stoppage time after Atalanta brought down a runner in the area. Matteo Gabbia almost completed an extraordinary recovery seconds later with a header that flashed wide, but the whistle followed.
San Siro damage
This was Milan's second straight league defeat at a time when they have absolutely no room for one. They sit on 67 points level with Roma, one behind Juventus, and the two remaining rounds leave them with very little margin for error.
Atalanta sit seventh going into Sunday and are not in the Champions League frame themselves, but three points from a San Siro trip is still the kind of result that can shape a finish. They did it by playing the simple, sharp football their first half asked for and refusing to fold in the closing minutes.
What's next
Two Serie A rounds remain. Milan need points from both and probably need help from above as well. Roma, Juventus, Como and now Milan are bunched inside a three-point window for the remaining Champions League slots. The two final weekends in Italy are going to be loud.
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