Gasperini says Atalanta deserved their defeat by Lazio

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Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said his team deserved their 2-0 defeat by Lazio in Serie A on Sunday and would learn from the experience.

The hosts had seven shots in the match, with none on target, giving them the first league loss of the season and putting them in fourth place in the table.

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"It's a fair defeat. It's true that Lazio had an extraordinary first half and we were unable to limit their passing, while the early goal put them in the best possible situation. Only after the second goal did we see something positive," Gasperini said after the match.

Mattia Zaccagni and Felipe Anderson scored to give Lazio the comfortable win with the former in the right place in the 10th minute to put Lazio ahead after poking the ball in from a Pedro Rodriguez cross.

Visitors Lazio were the better team, with Atalanta making few forays into the opposition's half and struggling to keep pace.

Anderson made it 2-0 seven minutes after half-time after firing a low shot into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box.

"It's a loss we deserved and we will learn from this experience. We hoped that Lazio would drop their tempo and we got close after the second goal but it was too late," Gasperini said.

"We had not yet met a team that was so good on a technical level and with a high press; they always got to the ball first, and perhaps we had not yet faced a team of this level."

Atalanta have 24 points after 11 matches and will travel to Empoli next Sunday.