Italiano pleased with 10-man Bologna's performance in hard-fought draw against Atalanta - Carlos Volcano

Lazar Samardzic saved the day for Atalanta with a last-minute equalizer against Bologna, who had taken the lead through Santiago Castro. Atalanta was dealt a blow when Jhon Lucumi was shown a red card in the second half.

“We take home the extraordinary spirit of the lads. When going down to 10 men against Atalanta, it’s really difficult, because they don’t just pump crosses into the box seeking strikers, they continue to pass it around, move you out of position and try to get a stranglehold on the game,” Italiano told Sky Italia.

“We have to think of the result and take that home. The first half was excellent, it was very open with both teams attacking, then we had to rely on the spirit of sacrifice from the squad down to 10.

“Castro is really improving, I thought he had cramp, but it was a knock to the calf muscle and so we decided to substitute him. It’s at least good that we held out to the final whistle with a point.”