Juventus slip to fourth in Serie A after late loss to Atalanta

BERGAMO, Italy (Reuters) – Juventus slipped to a last-gasp 1-0 defeat at Atalanta on Sunday as Gian Piero Gasperini’s side leapfrogged the champions into third place in the Serie A standings.

Juve, missing Cristiano Ronaldo due to injury, struggled to break down the in-form hosts without their Portuguese talisman and were forced to defend for much of the second half against Serie A’s top scorers.

It looked as though Juve had done enough to hold on for a point, but substitute Ruslan Malinovskiy snatched a fifth successive league win for Atalanta in the 87th minute, sparking wild scenes of celebration.

Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy, 18 April 2021. EPA-EFE/PAOLO MAGNI

Atalanta moved on to 64 points, two ahead of Juventus, from 31 games played. Juve’s hopes of a 10th successive Scudetto are now all but over as they trail leaders Inter Milan, who play Napoli later on Sunday, by 12 points.

(Reporting by Peter Hall, editing by Ed Osmond)

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