In what has been a tremendous week for both Atalanta and Mario Pasalic, the Chelsea-loanee found himself once again on the scoresheet in his sides 2-0 win over Udinese.
The 24 year-old, now in his last few months on loan at Atalanta, has had a illusive career with the Blues, who having been signed as a 19 year-old in 2014 from Hajduk Split, is still yet to appear for his parent club.
With season-long loan spells at Elche (35 App, 3 Goals), AS Monaco (29 App, 7 Goals), AC Milan (27 App, 5 Goals) and Spartak Moscow (32 App, 5 Goals), the midfielder has struggled to hit the heights Chelsea would have hoped for and has failed to make a claim to be involved in the first team.
However with the impending Chelsea transfer ban, Pasalic has chosen a perfect window to hit form, now producing some strong performances for the northern Italian club, which might see him finally get his chance next season at Cobham as the club looks for different means to revitalise its squad.
After scoring the winning goal against (2nd place) Napoli last weekend, Pasalic again started in attacking midfield alongside Papu Gomez in Gasperini's 3-4-2-1 on Monday night. Pasalic, a central midfielder by trade, has been moved further forward more often this season, seeing him produce more productive performances.
In the 85th minute, Hans Hatoboer's cross into the box found its way to Duvan Zapata, who with his back to goal, poked the ball outside the 18-yard box to Pasalic, who smashed the ball first-time with his non-preferred left foot, thundering his shot towards goal where it subsequently deflected off a defender into the bottom right corner, making the scores 2-0 and securing all three points at the Atleti Azzurri D'Italia.
For the number 88 it was his 7th goal in all competitions this season, after 37 appearances and a further 7 assists.
With 5 games to go, including a Coppa Italia Final date with Lazio, Atalanta will look to Pasalic's form in order to help them maintain (or even improve) their fourth place standing on the Serie A table, seeing them qualify for the UEFA Champions League, as well as potentially lifting the Coppa Italia trophy.
Video Courtesy of Serie A
