MILAN — If Atalanta’s quest for the Serie A title stumbles, they might just point fingers at Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.


The Serbian goalkeeper was instrumental in securing a 1-1 draw for his team on a rainy evening in Bergamo by successfully saving a penalty from Atalanta, marking the second time he has done so this season. Atalanta remains in third place, three points behind Inter Milan, which is set to face AC Milan in a derby match on Sunday. They trail league leaders Napoli by six points as Napoli prepares to play against Roma on the same day.


Atalanta opened the scoring in the 35th minute, thanks to Berat Djimsiti, who netted his first goal in nearly three years with a powerful header. However, Torino equalized just five minutes later when Guillermo Maripán, the Chilean captain, also scored with a header, marking his first Serie A goal.


With 16 minutes left in the match, Atalanta had a chance to regain the lead when they were awarded a penalty after Torino’s Adrien Tameze fouled Matteo Retegui. Yet, Milinkovic-Savic leapt adeptly to deflect Retegui’s shot away. His celebration was met with a yellow card for taunting Atalanta supporters, who reacted by throwing objects in frustration. This marked Milinkovic-Savic’s third penalty save of the season; he had previously denied attempts from Bologna in December and from Atalanta back in August, a match Torino won 2-1.


In a lighter context, Hellas Verona achieved a vital 1-0 win against bottom-placed Monza, thanks to a humorous own goal. During the 13th minute, Suat Serdar made a seemingly harmless pass from the right, yet Monza defender Stefan Lekovi? misjudged it and inadvertently directed the ball into his own net, resulting in Verona’s first victory of 2025 and lifting them three points above the relegation zone. Monza, on the other hand, finds itself eight points adrift of safety.


Adding to the drama, one of Monza’s standout players, Daniel Maldini, completed his transfer to Atalanta just before the match kicked off.


Meanwhile, Udinese faced a challenging match where they relinquished a two-goal lead but eventually secured a 3-2 victory over Venezia, with Iker Bravo scoring the decisive goal just six minutes before the final whistle. This win allowed Udinese to end their five-match winless streak, while Venezia remained five points away from climbing out of the relegation zone.