Serie A: Mario Pasalic stars with hattrick as Atalanta rout Venezia

Thanks to a hattrick from Mario Pasalic, Atalanta routed Venezia 4-0 on Tuesday in Serie A to move level on points with third-placed Inter Milan, four points below league leader Napoli. Meanwhile, newly-promoted side Venezia are five points above the relegation zone.

Pasalic scored his first two goals in the opening 12 minutes and added the other in the 67th, shortly after Teun Koopmeiners had netted the home team’s third.

Also Read | PSG in ‘zero contact’ with Zinedine Zidane, Mauricio Pochettino to stay: Club president

In Bergamo, Atalanta got off to a quick start, taking the lead in the seventh minute when Josip Ilicic threaded a pass through to Paali, who tucked the ball into the bottom right corner. After a one-two with Luis Muriel, Pasalic doubled his goal five minutes later.

After another brilliant ball from Ilicic, the Croatia midfielder came close to completing his hat trick early in the second half, but Venezia goalkeeper Sergio Romero managed to stop his powerful attempt.

Also Read | Lionel Messi calls on France Football to award Robert Lewandowski 2020 Ballon d’Or

In the 57th minute, Koopmeiners increased Atalanta’s advantage by drilling the ball into the bottom right corner. Pasalic finished off his hat trick 10 minutes later, collecting the ball with his back to goal and blasting into the net.

Muriel’s shot came off the base of the left post, and Paali almost grabbed an assist minutes earlier.

Also Read | Ronaldo hits back at Pascal Ferre, labels claim about rivalry with Messi ‘lies’

Later, Juventus will face last-placed Salernitana, with the goal of avoiding a third straight defeat. Cagliari was also scheduled to play Hellas Verona.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Serbian forward Dusan Vlahovic scored his seventh goal in five matches to lead Fiorentina over Sampdoria 3-1. The 21-year-old striker is being eyed up by many clubs ahead of the January transfer window given his red hot form.

With inputs from the Associated Press