It was quite the evening for Serie A’s Atalanta as it hosted visitors Empoli at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo. The sixth place side has been impressive in recent seasons, putting on good performances in the Europa League and doing well in Serie A.
The odds of Atalanta beating Empoli were very high as the visitors sat 18th, in the relegation zone. What looked like quite a routine match was completely turned on its head. No, Empoli did not beat Atalanta with a smash and grab, but Atalanta did not beat Empoli either.
The match ended 0-0. So why was the match so interesting?
Take a look at the stats.
47 (FORTY SEVEN!) shots.
NO GOALS.Atalanta have just broken an unwanted record in an incredibly frustrating night.
Report: https://t.co/lBF31jtk8s pic.twitter.com/1uLXD4HlN9
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 15, 2019
The home side had a whopping 47 shots, 33 of them inside the box, and 18 of them total were on target. The club also created 38 chances on goal total, attempting 569 passes, and managed over 62 percent of possession and was in constant control of the game.
Bartlomiej Dragowski: Is only the second goalkeeper to receive a WhoScored 10 rating in a Serie A game since we started receiving Opta data for the 2009/10 campaign.
The 21-year-old made 17 saves, as Empoli remarkably drew 0-0 with Atalanta https://t.co/dcscTa6SjH pic.twitter.com/MHOkixywFY— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) April 15, 2019
On the Empoli end, goalkeeper Bartolomiej Dragowski put in a man of the match performance, making an incredible 17 saves. Empoli managed just three shots in the match total, and only saw 38 percent of the ball.
Since 2016/17, no team has had more shots (47) or more shots on target (18) than Atalanta managed tonight vs. Empoli.
The game ended 0-0. pic.twitter.com/dAesZzB9Ja— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 15, 2019
How Atalanta managed to not put away any of its 47 shots is beyond any fan. While dominating a game and creating chances is all well and good, creating that many and not scoring is a really unwanted record that's also very embarrassing.
Atalanta vs. Empoli Match Highlights
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