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- Atalanta 2-1 Roma: Late Sulemana strike seals Champions League qualification
Atalanta 2-1 Roma: Late Sulemana strike seals Champions League qualification
A potentially decisive late goal from Ibrahim Sulemana dented Roma's European hopes in Monday's defeat against Atalanta.
Ibrahim Sulemana came off the bench to score a 76th-minute winner as Atalanta secured Champions League qualification with a 2-1 home win over Roma in Serie A on Monday.
Ademola Lookman put Atalanta in front after nine minutes when twisting and turning from Charles De Ketelaere's offload before firing into the far corner.
However, Bryan Cristante levelled for the visitors after the half-hour mark with a flicked header from Matias Soule's delightful left-wing centre.
Sulemana stepped up as the late hero, racing onto a loose ball outside the area before arrowing a low strike into the bottom-left corner for his first, and decisive, Serie A goal.
The win leaves Atalanta, who fell behind in the title race, third on 71 points and boasting a seven-point cushion over fourth-placed Juventus.
Lazio are in fifth with two games left to play, while Roma are sixth with 63 points after a potentially decisive result in the European race.
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Atalanta had won just eight points from their nine home league games in 2025 (0.9 on average per game), recording one win and five draws, but ended that poor run with an impressive attacking showing here.
They accumulated 2.4 expected goals to Roma's meagre 0.81, though Gian Piero Gasperini may have wanted more from his side, who only found the target with three of 16 attempts.
Regardless of their finishing, Atalanta have now scored 101 goals this season in all competitions, reaching triple figures for the fifth time, after 2023-24 (106), 2020-21 (111), 2019-20 (116) and 2018-19 (103).
It also ended a remarkable streak for Roma, who were unbeaten in their 16 games so far in the second half of the season (W12 D4), before Sulemana dealt a blow to their top-four hopes.
However, this result could have been expected given Roma extended to five losses in their last six away games (W1) against Atalanta in Serie A.