Atalanta's winless run reaches seven games despite dominating Kairat Almaty
La Dea controlled possession and shots but still needed a scrappy Krstovic finish to salvage a 1-1 Conference League draw against Kairat Almaty, as Gian Piero Gasperini's successors continue to search for a win.
Atalanta's wait for a victory now stretches to seven matches across competitions after a 1-1 draw with Kairat Almaty in the Conference League, with Nikola Krstovic's close-range finish rescuing a point in Bergamo, according to Football Italia.
The draw followed a humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Parma, a result that pushed the squad into a three-day training retreat before this fixture. Injuries to Thomas Kristensen, Gianluca Gaetano, Raoul Bellanova, Franck Kessie, Sead Kolasinac, Isak Hien, Giacomo Raspadori and Odilon Kossounou left Atalanta so depleted that youth-team defender Javison Idele was handed his first senior start, Football Italia reported.
Dominance that didn't translate into control
The numbers tell a familiar story for a team in a rut. Atalanta held 70 per cent of possession and produced 16 shots to Kairat's seven, with seven of those on target against the visitors' three. Field tilt of that scale is usually enough to settle a game on its own, yet it only produced one goal across ninety-plus minutes.
That gap between territorial dominance and end product has been Atalanta's central problem through this run. Jonathan Rowe tested the goalkeeper early and headed over soon after, while a slick passing move on the half-hour saw Mario Pasalic graze the outside of the post from close range. Chances were created in bulk; few were finished.
A counter-attack exposed the makeshift back line
Kairat's goal arrived against the run of play in the 53rd minute, and it exploited exactly the kind of gap a patched-together defence is prone to leaving. Edmilson's pass from the centre circle sent Marc Gual away against two defenders, and he beat the advancing Marco Carnesecchi with the only finish Kairat needed.
Carnesecchi had already been central to keeping the scoreline level, producing a double save to deny Alexandr Mrynskiy and the follow-up from Gustavo Mendonca. Kairat even gifted Atalanta a let-off of their own when Damir Kasabulat dribbled an attempted back pass wide of his own open goal without checking on his goalkeeper, a reminder that the visitors were far from error-free themselves.
Idele's evening summed up the defensive strain Atalanta were working under. The teenager could not keep a close-range volley down from a Nicola Zalewski cross, one of several moments where the absence of senior cover showed in positioning and composure rather than effort.
Set pieces and a disallowed goal shaped the comeback
Eljif Elmas thought he had equalised in the 65th minute when he turned home a stray Zalewski strike, but the goal was ruled out for offside. He was nonetheless the most threatening Atalanta player in open play, forcing a flying save from the Kairat goalkeeper with a curling effort from the edge of the box soon after.
The leveller, when it came, was built from a set piece rather than sustained build-up. A corner was only half-cleared, Relja Obric knocked it back across goal from the byline, and Krstovic bundled the ball over the line from six yards in the 82nd minute. Atalanta pushed for a winner into stoppage time, with Pasalic unable to keep a late chance on target as the point stood.
Kairat Almaty arrived in Bergamo having dropped out of both Champions League and Europa League qualifying despite winning the Kazakhstan title, then opened their Conference League campaign with a draw at Riga and a 5-1 defeat to Panathinaikos. This was only the second match in charge for caretaker manager Zhora Arutyunyan, whose side were also missing striker Jorginho, out since July with a torn ACL, Football Italia noted.
For Atalanta, the result does little to ease the pressure building since the Parma defeat. Controlling 70 per cent of the ball and firing 16 shots at goal would ordinarily be the platform for a comfortable win, not a damage-limitation point against a side reshaped by injuries and a managerial change of their own. Until the finishing catches up with the territorial dominance, the winless run will keep extending one fixture at a time.