Atalanta 1-0 Bologna: Samardžić strikes at 90+6 to rescue perfect Serie A start

Atalanta preserved their perfect start to the Serie A season in the most dramatic way possible as substitute Lazar Samardžić struck in the sixth minute of stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 victory over Bologna in Bergamo.

For 95 minutes, the match had provided little evidence that Maurizio Sarri’s side would leave the New Balance Arena with all three points.

Bologna had produced several of the better opportunities, forced Marco Carnesecchi into important interventions and came within the width of the post of taking the lead.

Then Samardžić changed everything.

Introduced for Éderson in the 68th minute, the Serbia international collected possession outside the area deep into added time and beat Łukasz Skorupski with a long-range strike that transformed an uneven Atalanta performance into a second consecutive league victory.

Six points from six.

But this was a very different win from a comfortable statement of superiority.

Bologna made Atalanta uncomfortable from the start.

Nicolò Cambiaghi produced the visitors’ first opening, moving into a one-on-one situation before Carnesecchi dealt with his left-footed effort.

Federico Bernardeschi followed in the 18th minute with a more demanding attempt that forced the Atalanta goalkeeper into a diving save.

Those moments established an early pattern.

Bologna were able to progress into threatening areas without needing extended spells of possession and looked particularly dangerous when they could attack before Atalanta’s defensive structure had completely settled.

Sarri’s side had the greater collection of attacking names on the pitch — Gianluca Scamacca, Charles De Ketelaere and Giacomo Raspadori all started — but the front line struggled to turn possession into consistent penetration.

Raspadori volleyed over from a corner in the 28th minute.

Scamacca created another opening shortly before half-time after finding space to shoot, but Skorupski was positioned well.

At the opposite end, Bologna continued to threaten.

Lewis Ferguson forced Carnesecchi into another important intervention just before the interval, although the move was subsequently flagged for offside.

The warning remained.

Atalanta were not controlling the match simply because the score was level.

Bologna were finding routes towards goal and carrying the greater threat in several of the game’s decisive moments.

The second half did little to establish clear Atalanta superiority.

Cambiaghi came closest to changing the score when his effort from outside the area struck the woodwork, a moment that increasingly looked capable of defining the night as the clock moved towards full-time.

Domenico Tedesco later described even a goalless draw as something Bologna would have considered disappointing.

His frustration was understandable.

The visitors had created enough to believe they should leave Bergamo with more than nothing.

Their problem was the same one that has followed them through the opening 180 minutes of the league season.

They did not score.

That failure gradually changed the risk inside the match.

As long as the game remained 0-0, one action could erase everything Bologna had done well.

Sarri attempted to alter Atalanta’s attacking rhythm through his bench.

Nicola Zalewski and Eljif Elmas replaced De Ketelaere and Raspadori in the 55th minute.

Thirteen minutes later, Samardžić and Nikola Krstović entered for Éderson and Scamacca.

The substitutions did not immediately produce territorial domination.

They did, however, give Atalanta different profiles around the final third.

Samardžić was particularly important because he offered something the initial attacking structure had lacked: the willingness and technique to threaten goal from beyond the defensive block.

That possibility ultimately decided the match.

By stoppage time, Bologna had every reason to believe they had survived Atalanta’s final push.

Their defensive structure remained intact.

Skorupski had not been subjected to sustained pressure.

Atalanta appeared to be running out of both space and time.

Samardžić required neither.

His decisive strike came from outside the penalty area and carried extremely low expected-goal value — precisely the kind of action that cannot be treated as the inevitable consequence of sustained dominance.

It was individual execution breaking a match that collective structure had failed to solve.

That distinction matters when assessing Atalanta’s performance.

Sarri’s team did not spend the evening dismantling Bologna before eventually receiving their reward.

They were repeatedly challenged.

Carnesecchi had work to do.

Cambiaghi hit the post.

Bologna reached dangerous areas often enough for Tedesco to leave the match talking about a missed opportunity rather than an undeserved defeat.

Atalanta still found a way to win.

There is significance in that too.

A season cannot be built exclusively on matches in which the tactical plan functions perfectly.

Teams competing near the top of the table eventually need points from nights when possession lacks incision, the opponent creates the cleaner opportunities and the winning action has to come from somewhere outside the original script.

On Monday, that action came from the bench.

Samardžić had played only 22 minutes.

One strike was enough to redefine all of them.

For Bologna, the frustration runs deeper than conceding late.

Tedesco’s team have now played 180 minutes of Serie A football without scoring despite creating enough opportunities to suggest the attacking process is healthier than the results indicate.

The coach’s diagnosis after the match was direct: Bologna need greater ruthlessness in front of goal.

That is the uncomfortable part.

Performances can establish that a team is functioning.

Only goals turn that functionality into points.

Bologna discovered the difference in the cruellest possible way.

Atalanta, meanwhile, have begun the season with two victories from two.

The table will record six points and Samardžić’s winner.

The match itself offers Sarri considerably more to examine.

His side were not consistently the better team.

They did not create enough separation through their starting attack.

They required Carnesecchi to keep the contest alive.

But they reached the final seconds with the game still available — and possessed a substitute capable of deciding it with one technically exceptional action.

For Bologna, 0-0 would already have felt insufficient.

At 90+6, even that disappeared.

For Atalanta, an ordinary performance became a perfect start with virtually the final kick of the night.