Ten-man Atalanta hold out in relegation scrap

Atalanta survived the 64th minute dismissal of defender Luigi Sala to secure a valuable 0-0 draw away to Reggina in the first leg of their Serie A relegation play-off.

Sala saw red for a second bookable offence but the home side were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage and the northern visitors held on in the energy-sapping Calabrian heat.

Atalanta are now favourites to survive the drop going into Saturday's crunch second leg in Bergamo.

Southerners Reggina had numerous chances to win the match but failed to beat Atalanta's outstanding goalkeeper Massimo Taibi, who denied his former club with a string of outstanding saves.

Outplayed for the majority of a largely scrappy contest, Atalanta almost grabbed an unlikely victory three minutes after Sala left the field at a sold-out Granillo stadium.

Cristiano Doni was clean through after a swift counter-attack but the Italy international lost his nerve and completely miscued his shot with just Reggina goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi to beat.