Atalanta beat Sassuolo 2-1 at home in Serie A, and the margin was settled by a substitute who needed just five minutes on the pitch to score it. Nikola Krstović, the Atalanta forward, entered in the 60th minute as part of a triple change by Maurizio Sarri's side and had the winner by the 65th — a sequence that compressed the entire story of the second half into a single tactical decision.
Giacomo Raspadori gave Atalanta the opener in the sixth minute, assisted by Gianluca Gaetano, and the hosts carried that lead into the interval without it ever feeling entirely secure. Sassuolo's equalizer arrived ten minutes into the second half, Cas Odenthal — the Sassuolo defender — converting to level at 1-1 and shift the momentum toward Alberto Aquilani's visitors. What followed was Sarri's response: three simultaneous substitutions at the hour mark, bringing on Charles De Ketelaere, Lazar Samardžić, and Krstović for Nicola Zalewski, Mario Pašalić, and Gianluca Scamacca respectively. The restructuring worked faster than most triple changes do. Krstović's goal five minutes later restored Atalanta's lead and, as it turned out, ended the scoring.
Krstović is the natural focus here. Thirty-three minutes of football, one goal, a rating of 7.3 — the numbers are modest in volume but precise in impact. The winner came at a moment when Sassuolo had genuine reason to believe they could push for a second goal, and Krstović's intervention closed that possibility before it developed. Sarri's decision to introduce him alongside two other attackers-turned-midfielders simultaneously was a structural gamble; the speed with which it paid off suggests the substitution was prepared rather than reactive.
Sassuolo's problem was not the equalizer — scoring through a central defender against a side of Atalanta's quality is a legitimate achievement — but what came immediately after it. Odenthal's goal arrived in the 55th minute; within ten minutes, Sassuolo had conceded again and the match was effectively over. The visitors made their own changes — Kristian Thorstvedt on for Vasilije Adžić in the 64th minute — but the timing placed them a goal behind before those adjustments could take effect. Aquilani's side had shown in the Coppa Italia, where they beat Cesena 3-0 earlier in the month, that they carry attacking threat, and Cristian Volpato was their most dangerous outlet here with a rating of 7.2 across 88 minutes. The issue was not quality in isolation but the inability to protect the momentum of the equalizer.
For Atalanta, this result — their first Serie A match of the 2026-27 season — opens the campaign with three points. The context around it is worth noting: Sarri's side drew their Europa Conference League opener against Hapoel Tel Aviv four days earlier, so the win here represents the sharper edge of their early-season form. Sassuolo, with a Coppa Italia win already banked, now carry a Serie A defeat into the next round of fixtures.
Raspadori's contribution — a goal, an 8.2 rating across 82 minutes, and the assist from Gaetano that set the tone in the sixth minute — was the foundation. But Atalanta 2-1 Sassuolo will be remembered for the five minutes it took a substitute to decide it.