Match report
Atalanta hold off Sassuolo fightback to win Serie A opener
Atalanta began their Serie A campaign with a 2-1 victory over Sassuolo at the New Balance Arena, opening the scoring inside six minutes through Giacomo Raspadori after Gianluca Gaetano's assist. Maurizio Sarri's side led at the break and eventually saw off a spirited response from the visitors to collect all three points on matchday one.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Sassuolo levelled shortly after the hour when Cas Odenthal converted to make it 1-1, giving Alberto Aquilani's side hope of taking something from the game. Atalanta responded quickly, though, with Nikola Krstović restoring the home side's lead in the 65th minute to make it 2-1, a scoreline that held until the final whistle.
Sassuolo had the better of the underlying numbers, out-shooting Atalanta 21 to 14 and edging shots on target 8 to 7, while also finishing with the higher expected-goals figure. Atalanta, though, controlled possession at 57 percent and made their moments count, converting two of their chances to secure a win that lifted them to fourth in the early table.
Raspadori scored the opener and was rated the top performer on the pitch with a mark of 8.2, capping a productive night in front of goal.
Despite seeing less of the ball, Sassuolo generated the higher expected-goals total of the two sides, at 2.70 to Atalanta's 0.67.
Atalanta beat Sassuolo 2–1 (half-time 1–0).
Atalanta met Sassuolo in the Serie A (Regular Season - 1). Kick-off was Sunday, 23 August 2026, 18:45 UTC at New Balance Arena. Referee: Valerio Crezzini.
Key moments
- 6' Goal: Giacomo Raspadori (assist: Gianluca Gaetano) — 1–0 · Watch Giacomo Raspadori's goal video (6')
- 55' Goal: Cas Odenthal — 1–1 · Watch Cas Odenthal's goal video (55')
- 65' Goal: Nikola Krstović — 2–1 · Watch Nikola Krstović's goal video (65')
Starting line-ups
Atalanta (4-3-3)
Sassuolo (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Atalanta 62%, the draw 27%, Sassuolo 11%. It finished Atalanta 2–1 Sassuolo.
Atalanta's rating gap, but the draw is in play — Atalanta are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Atalanta's 62%. The draw at 27% is lifted by a low-scoring environment.
Why Atalanta at 62%?
Atalanta sit 281 points higher on our strength rating — 1963 to 1682. Sides with a 200–300-point rating edge at home won 67.0% of 5,950 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 69–21–10.
Why only 62%?
Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Atalanta's column. Across 10,693 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.1 — negative in every season since 2018. Serie A home sides under-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (25.9% vs 24.9% norm). Serie A homes won 43.3% of 6,085 games vs 44.9% across all 99,290 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly.
Why is the draw second, ahead of the Sassuolo win?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 20.7%. These teams' recent games average 2.3 goals — a low-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 28.2% of 18,117. The goals environment adds 2.8 points to the draw. Early-season fixtures add 2.1 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Atalanta average 7 points more possession, but the rating gap here is 281 points. Our control receipt only exists between near-equals — there it moved results; across a class gap we could not measure a separate style edge, so style scores 0 here. Atalanta on 3 days' rest, Sassuolo on 6. Once class is accounted for, rest gaps stopped mattering — across 43,482 measured games no rest advantage repeated.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Atalanta vs Sassuolo final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Serie A fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Giacomo Raspadori's goal against Sassuolo (6').
- Watch Cas Odenthal's goal against Atalanta (55').
- Watch Nikola Krstović's goal against Sassuolo (65').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Atalanta 2–1 Sassuolo. Explore more on the Atalanta and Sassuolo team pages or the Serie A page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of Atalanta vs Sassuolo?
Atalanta beat Sassuolo 2–1 (half-time 1–0).
›Who scored in Atalanta vs Sassuolo?
Giacomo Raspadori (6') for Atalanta; Cas Odenthal (55') for Sassuolo; Nikola Krstović (65') for Atalanta.
›Where can I watch Atalanta vs Sassuolo highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from Atalanta 2–1 Sassuolo are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.
›What is the head-to-head record between Atalanta and Sassuolo?
Atalanta and Sassuolo have met 10 times — 5 wins for Atalanta, 4 wins for Sassuolo and 1 draw.