MILAN, Dec 1: Mario Pašalić scored a hat trick to help Atalanta rout Venezia 4-0 Tuesday in Serie A.
Pašalić 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.
Atalanta moved level on points with third-place Inter Milan, four points below Serie A leader Napoli.
Atalanta got off to a fast start in Bergamo and took the lead in the seventh minute when Josip Iličić threaded a pass through to Pašalić, who slotted the ball into the bottom right corner. Pašalić doubled his tally five minutes later following a one-two with Luis Muriel.
Koopmeiners extended Atalanta’s lead in the 57th when he drilled the ball into the bottom right corner. Pašalić completed his hat trick 10 minutes later, gathering the ball with his back to goal before shooting into the back of the net.
Salernitana vs Juventus
Juventus survived a scare to win 2-0 at last-place Salernitana. Paulo Dybala and Álvaro Morata scored and Juventus remained seventh, seven points below fourth-place Atalanta and the last UCL qualifying spot.
Juventus was desperate for a win after being jeered by its fans as it lost at home to Atalanta 1-0 over the weekend. It dominated fat Salernitana, where it had 80% possession in the first half, but only had one goal to show for it.
That came in the 21st minute when Dybala played a one-two with Dejan Kulusevski before placing into the bottom right corner.
Juve doubled its lead 20 minutes from time, somewhat against the run of play. Dybala floated a ball across to the byline for Federico Bernardeschi, whose cross was cheekily flicked in by Morata at the near post.
Other Results
Elsewhere, Dušan Vlahović scored his seventh goal in five matches to lead Fiorentina over Sampdoria 3-1. Hellas Verona was held 0-0 by Cagliari. (AP)
