Terzic Scores Late as Frosinone Draw 4-4 at Atalanta in Bergamo

Atalanta and Frosinone drew 4-4 in Bergamo on Sunday, a Serie A game that changed lead four times and was level four times. Romano Schmid scored in the first minute for Frosinone and again in the seventeenth. Atalanta led 3-2 at half time and 4-3 in the second half. Aleksa Terzic, a half time substitute, equalised in the 82nd minute with his first touch of quality all afternoon, a first-time finish from twelve yards set up by Fares Ghedjemis. Neither side could find a fifth goal in a frantic finish.

The scoring ran like this. Schmid put Frosinone ahead after about thirty seconds, punishing an error by Ederson. Nikola Krstovic levelled at fourteen minutes. Schmid restored the Frosinone lead at seventeen. Ederson equalised from a penalty at thirty-three minutes, and Krstovic scored his second in the forty-fifth to send Atalanta in ahead. Giacomo Calo made it 3-3 at forty-eight minutes. Eljif Elmas put Atalanta back in front at fifty, from a Krstovic pass. Terzic had the last word at eighty-two. Ghedjemis finished with three assists for Frosinone, on Schmid's second goal, Calo's goal and the equaliser.

Newly promoted, and playing like it belongs

Frosinone came up from Serie B in the summer under coach Massimiliano Alvini, and a point in Bergamo is the kind of result that turns a good start into a serious one. The draw lifted Frosinone to sixth place with fourteen points from eight games. The visitors did not sit back after scoring early. They pressed Atalanta's build-up, won the ball in good areas and kept attacking at 3-2 and 4-3 down. Their weakness was at the other end. Atalanta found space behind the full backs all afternoon, and Krstovic could have completed a hat trick before Terzic equalised.

Atalanta cannot hold a lead

For Atalanta, the concern is plain. Coach Maurizio Sarri's team led twice in the second half and led at half time, and still did not win. Sarri told DAZN Italia: "Clearly we are going through a difficult period for a thousand reasons." He added: "Considering the current period of form and situation, we have to accept this result." Sarri said his team gifted two goals and struggled to pass cleanly against a fresher Frosinone side, after three games in ten days. Atalanta sit eleventh with ten points, and they are now three matches without a win.

What happens next

Both teams play again on Thursday, October 29. Atalanta visit Fiorentina, and Frosinone host Lecce. A win for Frosinone would keep them in the European places through the next round. Atalanta need a win of any kind to stop a run that is turning a slow start into a poor one. The eight goals in Bergamo also gave Serie A its highest scoring game of the weekend, on a Sunday when Inter beat Fiorentina 2-1 and Milan won 2-0 at Udinese.