In return, Atalanta canceled the deficit by halftime with goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Davide Zappacosta.
Mario Pašalić scored a goal in the 57th minute to give Atalanta a 3:0 lead and a 3:2 overall lead. However, in the 75th minute, Karim Adeyemi scored for Borussia, which tied the game at 3:3. It looked like the winner would be decided in overtime or on penalties as deep into stoppage time the score was tied overall.
Then Borussia’s goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made a big mistake. His poor pass was intercepted by Pašalić, who immediately put the ball into the box. There, Nikola Krstović bravely threw his head at the ball. The Montenegrin striker, who entered the game a little earlier, received a heavy blow to the head.
Borussia stopper Ramy Bensebaini hit him with his boot, which left Krstović’s head bloody. Spanish referee Jose Sanchez gave the Borussia player a second yellow card and pointed to a penalty. The Serbian offensive player Lazar Samardžić certainly turned it into a goal for the final 4:1 and the passage of Atalanta to the round of 16.
Atalanta celebrates the brave Montenegrin striker as the hero of the passage, which brought them 11 million euros of UEFA’s premium. Teammates took photos with him after the game, and Krstović showed on social media what his head looked like after the opponent hit him with corks.
Krstović (25) came to Bergamo from Lecce last summer with a compensation of 25 million euros. In 34 appearances, he scored nine and set up six goals. Excellent performance, considering that he was a starter only 16 times, reports Index.hr.
(Vijesti.ba)
