Atalanta midfielder Franck Kessié unlocked a home Serie A fixture against Venezia with the opening goal, setting la Dea on their way to a victory that ended a difficult run of results and lifted Maurizio Sarri's side back into winning form.
The result matters beyond three points. Atalanta had collected nine points from their opening six matches — three wins against three defeats, no draws — a binary record that spoke to a team capable of quality but not yet consistency. A clean win at home, with Kessié providing the early impetus, is precisely the kind of performance Sarri needed to stabilise the mood around a squad still finding its rhythm in 2026-27.
For Kessié, the goal was his first of the league season and arrived in what the data shows has been a quietly productive start. Across four Serie A appearances this term, the 29-year-old has carried an average rating of 7.01 — a number that suggests reliable rather than spectacular, the kind of midfielder who keeps the machine running without demanding the spotlight. A fifth appearance, by contrast, produced a rating of 5.97, a dip that underlines how even the most composed players carry match-to-match variance. The goal against Venezia, and the substance he added to the midfield according to post-match assessments, points toward the higher end of that range.
Nikola Krstovic added a brace to complete the scoring, and the evening was soured only by Elmas receiving a red card late on — a disciplinary note Sarri will address before Atalanta's next fixture.
Venezia, meanwhile, remain without a point and rooted to the foot of the table. For Kessié and la Dea, the priority now is converting this performance into a run rather than an isolated result.