Atalanta 1-0 Bologna: Samardžić strikes at the death to win it

For 89 minutes this looked like ending goalless — a tight, cagey affair between two well-drilled sides. Then Lazar Samardžić settled it. The midfielder struck in the 90th minute, converting a Nicola Zalewski cross to snatch all three points at the death. It was the kind of moment that decides tight games and defines seasons: one flash of quality when the game seemed destined for a share of the spoils. Atalanta's patience was rewarded at the very last.

What makes the goal notable is where it came from. Samardžić had been introduced from the bench, and it was fellow substitute Zalewski who provided the assist. In a game short of clear openings, it was the fresh legs and attacking intent from the sidelines that made the difference. That is squad depth doing its job — a manager going to his bench for a spark and getting exactly that. When first-choice attackers cannot break the deadlock, the ability to change the game from the bench becomes priceless.

This was a fourth win in five matches for Atalanta, and the manner — grinding out a 1-0 when not at their fluent best — is often the mark of a serious side. Not every game can be a free-flowing showcase; some have to be won ugly, with a clean sheet and a late goal. Bologna, by contrast, extended a run of narrow defeats, undone once again by the finest of margins. They will feel they did enough to earn a point, but football rarely rewards effort without a finish.

A single goal in the 90th minute is the difference between a valuable home win and a frustrating draw, and over a season those margins add up. Atalanta found a matchwinner when they needed one; Bologna could not. For the hosts it is another three points banked and momentum maintained; for the visitors, another lesson in how unforgiving Serie A can be when a tight game slips away in stoppage time.