Atalanta BC produced a second-half fightback to beat Cesena 3-2 and end their six-game winless run in Serie A.
Midway through the first half, Alejandro Gomez wasted a huge chance to give Atalanta the lead when he was picked out by Maximiliano Moralez, but he could only direct his header wide from a few yards out.
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Just past the half-hour mark, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock as Gregoire Defrel was found inside the box by Luigi Giorgi, and he fired a low strike into the bottom corner after working some space.
Atalanta then saw another headed opportunity go to waste, when Marco D'Alessandro directed an effort over at the back post.
With two minutes of the first half remaining, Defrel scored his second of the game for Cesena with a powerful low strike across the keeper which found the corner.
On the stroke of half time, Atalanta managed to pull a goal back through Yohan Benalouane, who controlled the ball with his chest before swivelling and firing a volley into the net.
The hosts were level within five minutes of the second half as Guglielmo Stendardo poked in from close range, after Rolando Bianchi's header had been saved by the keeper.
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Atalanta completed the comeback two minutes later when a mix up at the back allowed the ball to run through to Moralez, who made no mistake to slot the ball into the unguarded net.
Stendardo should have grabbed a fourth for the hosts, but he somehow put the ball wide, after Giulio Migliaccio's header came off the woodwork and fell to him at the back post.
The defender was not made to pay for that miss, as Atalanta held on to claim the points and move up to 14th in the table
Alex Meyers
