BERGAMO, Italy (AP) — Russian international Aleksei Miranchuk hung his head and didn’t celebrate after scoring the fourth and final goal as his Atalanta beat Sampdoria 4-0 in Serie A on Monday.
Miranchuk scored the goal hours after the Russian national team was excluded from qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In other circumstances, Miranchuc’s goal would have been worthy of great celebration because it was extraordinary.
He dribbled the ball between four defenders and finished with a shot from the edge of the box.
After scoring, Miranchuk raised his hands in a sign that he would not celebrate. His companions immediately surrounded him.
Miranchuk is friends with fellow Ukrainian Ruslan Malinovskyi, who scored against Olympiakos in the Europa League on Thursday and celebrated by pulling up his jersey to display a message on his undershirt that read “No to war in Ukraine.”
“These days have been tough,” Atlanta midfielder Marten de Roon said. “Ruslan is having a difficult time because his family and his city are in difficulty… However, they (Malinovskyi and Miranchuk) always talk. There is only friendship between the two.”
Before the start of the match, Atalanta sporting director Umberto Marino said the friendship between Malinovskyi and Miranchuk was an “example of how things should be”.
“It’s a sincere friendship between both boys who represent two very similar towns,” Marino said.
Malinovskyi did not play against Sampdoria because he injured his calf during the warm-up.
Atalanta, who ended a five-match winless streak, revived their hopes of finishing in the top four and appearing in the Champions League for the fourth consecutive season.
The Bergamo club is three points behind Juventus, fourth in the table, and has a pending match.
Croatian Mario Pasalic opened the scoring after six minutes by defining a popcorn.
Teun Koopmeiners then got two touchdowns. The Dutch midfielder first scored with an angled shot about half an hour into the game and then with a shot through the center of the area midway through the second half.
Sampdoria remains in 15th place, four points above the relegation zone.
All Serie A matches started with a five-minute delay, and accompanied by a message of peace for the war in Ukraine.
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