Atalanta ended a run of three straight defeats as Franck Kessie and a Nikola Krstovic brace put them 3-0 up inside half an hour, though winless Venezia hit the woodwork twice and had a goal ruled out, and Eljif Elmas was sent off late on.
Maurizio Sarri had insisted ‘time was no longer an excuse’ after La Dea lost three in a row, and he switched to a 4-2-3-1 with Charles De Ketelaere behind Krstovic. Gianluca Scamacca, Lorenzo Bernasconi and Sead Kolasinac started on the bench. Venezia arrived bottom of the table without a point after five games, but Giovanni Stroppa kept his job and welcomed back Toma Basic from injury.
Basic almost stunned the hosts in the first minute, only for Marco Carnesecchi to make a superb save, and Atalanta took full advantage. Krstovic picked out Kessie inside the box, and the Ivorian spotted Filip Stankovic off his line and lobbed him.
Two minutes later it was 2-0. Krstovic found space from Elmas’s corner and planted a header inside the far post.
Venezia lost Thierry Correia to injury early on, and Stankovic was soon at full stretch to deny De Ketelaere. The goalkeeper did well again on the half-hour to push away Jonathan Rowe’s low effort, but Krstovic pounced on the rebound to make it three.
The visitors responded before the break. Substitute Richie Sagrado whipped in a cross and Antoine Hainaut burst into the box to finish from close range.
Venezia push to no avail as Elmas sees red late on for Atalanta
Venezia came out flying after the interval. Akor Adams headed against the bar and John Yeboah struck the post, while Stankovic kept out another Krstovic effort at the other end.
Adams thought he had pulled another back on 61 minutes, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Carnesecchi then denied Yeboah after a mazy run through the defence.
Stankovic produced the save of the match to keep out Elmas’s snap shot, and Adams headed narrowly wide as Venezia went in search of a lifeline that never came.
There was still time for a late twist. Elmas was booked for a reckless challenge, but referee Paride Tremolada was sent to the monitor and upgraded it to a straight red, leaving Atalanta to see out the closing stages with 10 men.
Atalanta 3-1 Venezia
Kessie 4 (A), Krstovic 6, 30 (A), Hainaut 37 (V)
Player statistic
| Franck Kessié (Assist: Nikola Krstovic) |
4' | |||
| Nikola Krstovic (Assist: Eljif Elmas) |
6' | |||
| 18' | Matías Moreno | |||
| Nikola Krstovic | 30' | |||
| 37' |  |
Antoine Hainaut (Assist: Richie Sagrado) | ||
| 42' |  |
Juan Jesus |
| Eljif Elmas |  |
89' |
Match statistic
Starting lineups
