The Slovenian scored three times as his side recorded their biggest margin of victory ever in Serie A
A hat-trick from Josip Ilicic that included a sensational free-kick from midfield inspired Atalanta to an astonishing 7-0 away win over Torino, their biggest ever Serie A triumph.
Atalanta, who will play Valencia in the Champions League last 16, boosted their hopes of achieving another top-four finish with a stunning victory on Saturday.
Ilicic, who netted a remarkable free-kick from near the halfway line, scored his fourth Serie A hat-trick since the start of 2018, with only Lionel Messi (7) and Sergio Aguero (6) boasting better records over that span in the top five European leagues.
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Atalanta’s first top-flight win by a seven-goal margin – and Torino’s largest such home defeat – saw Robin Gosens follow up Ilicic’s close-range opener with a fine volley.
7 – #Atalanta have won a Serie A match with at least 7 goals margin for the first time in their history and #Torino have lost a Serie A home match with at least 7 goals margin for the first time in their history. Unreal #TorinoAtalanta
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 25, 2020
Duvan Zapata scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time before Ilicic caught out home goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu with an audacious set-piece from next to the centre circle after 53 minutes.
He completed his hat-trick a minute later and Il Toro’s humiliation was sealed when substitute Luis Muriel scored a quickfire late double, one of his efforts coming from the penalty spot.
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Armando Izzo was sent off for a second bookable offence when Torino were five goals down, and they ended up with nine men after Sasa Lukic got a straight red for a foul on Alejandro Gomez, by which point the visitors had already scored seven.
4 – Josip #Ilicic has scored 3 goals in a Serie A match for the 4th time since the start of 2018: only Aguero (6) and Messi (7) have netted more hat-tricks in this period in the top-5 European leagues. Empyrean. #TorinoAtalanta
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 25, 2020
Gian Piero Gasperini’s men are fifth in the table, level on points with Roma above them, with Torino down in 10th position.
Atalanta were third in Serie A last season and finished second to Manchester City in Champions League Group C despite losing their first three matches in the competition.