AfriPulse
Atalanta completed a dramatic comeback to eliminate Borussia Dortmund from the UEFA Champions League , sealing progression to the last 16 with a penalty scored on the final kick of the match.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in Germany, the Italian side overturned the deficit in front of their home supporters with an aggressive first-half performance.
First-half revival
Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring to spark belief before Davide Zappacosta added a second, levelling the tie on aggregate before the interval.
The momentum continued after the break when Mario Pašalić struck in the 57th minute to put Atalanta ahead overall.
Dortmund responded through Karim Adeyemi, whose curling effort appeared to have forced extra time by restoring parity across the two legs.
Atalanta pick late win to dump Dortmund out of Champions League – Getty image
VAR drama decides tie
With seconds remaining in stoppage time, defender Ramy Bensebaini caught Nikola Krstović with a high boot inside the penalty area as the Atalanta forward attempted to connect with a cross following an error by goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Referee José María Sánchez Martínez consulted the pitchside monitor after a VAR review and awarded a penalty, issuing Bensebaini a second yellow card.
Lazar Samardžić stepped up and converted with ease, driving the ball into the roof of the net to complete the turnaround and send Atalanta through.
Source: Gistreel | Read the Full Story…
