Atalanta had most of the ball but needed a late equaliser

Marc Gual gave Kairat Almaty the lead before N. Krstovic rescued a draw for Atalanta at the New Balance Arena.

Atalanta had 70% of the ball at the New Balance Arena, well above the 55.3% they have averaged over four matches this season. Keeping the ball is not the same as making the most of it, and the hosts found that out against Kairat Almaty, who spent most of the night with far less of it yet were in front for almost half an hour.

Marc Gual gave Kairat the lead in the 53rd minute, with Edmilson providing the assist. The lead stood until late on, when N. Krstovic equalised for Atalanta from a pass by Relja Obrić, who had already been booked in the first half. It was the kind of goal that changes how the whole evening reads, because it turned a match Kairat were protecting into one that ended level.

The chances tell a plainer story. Expected goals, or xG, is a rough measure of how good each shot was, and Atalanta's 1.80 sits close to the 1.71 they usually produce. They took more shots than usual, but the quality of those chances was nothing out of the ordinary, and only seven of their 15 efforts were on target.

Kairat's own chances were thin. Their eight shots and 0.73 xG sit well below the league's average of 12.2 shots and 1.32 xG per side, so the goal they scored came from very little. Temirlan Anarbekov made six saves in the Kairat goal, more work than any goalkeeper in the match had to do, and that is a large part of why the lead was still there to lose late on.

Atalanta's chances were ordinary in quality but they were the side pushing forward, with Jonathan Rowe, who came on before the hour, producing three shots of his own from the bench. Relja Obrić was the most involved player in the match, scoring the assist for the equaliser and winning four of his contests on the ground, though he too was booked in the first half and ended the game with the same discipline record as his side.

Discipline was tidy in terms of dismissals: nobody was sent off, so both sides finished with eleven men. Kairat picked up four yellow cards, three of them in the last six minutes, while Atalanta collected three across the match. That late cluster of bookings says as much about the closing stages as anything on the scoreboard.

Going into the match, Atalanta had three points from two games and sat 15th, while Kairat had one point and sat 31st. Kairat had lost five of their last six matches, so a point away from home carries more weight for them than the scoreline suggests. The draw takes Atalanta to four points and Kairat to two, and Kairat are still without a win in the competition.

Player of the matchRelja Obrić1 assist8.7

Temirlan Anarbekov6 saves8.3

Marc Gual1 goal8.3

Mario Pašalić2 chances created7.7