Atalanta will face Juventus in the Coppa Italia quarterfinal following a dominant 4-0 victory over Genoa at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo on Wednesday.

With the upcoming Serie A clash against Hellas Verona in mind, manager Raffaele Palladino rested several key players, including former African Footballer of the Year Ademola Lookman, who remained an unused substitute.

Centre-back Honest Ahanor began on the bench but was brought on at the hour mark with the Nerazzurri already 2–0 up, courtesy of goals from Berat Djimsiti and Marten de Roon.

After Mario Pašalić made it 3–0, Ahanor capped the victory with his first professional goal, heading home from a corner. 

The 17-year-old understandably chose not to celebrate, having honed his skills at Genoa before joining Atalanta during the summer transfer window.

During his youth career at Genoa, the versatile defender had already shown his scoring ability, netting seven goals across the U17, U18 and U19 teams. 

Prior to Wednesday, Ahanor had made sixteen official professional appearances without finding the back of the net.

The promising youngster is on the radar of Italy national team coach Gennaro Gattuso ahead of the 2026 World Cup

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit: atalanta.it