Atalanta got revenge for their 2-0 home defeat back in October, inflicting the same result on Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico with a Davide Zappacosta curler and Rasmus Hojlund burst of pace to catch Roma and Milan on 41 points.
The hosts had Felipe Anderson back to partner Ciro Immobile, with only Stefan Radu missing, but La Dea had Luis Muriel and Joakim Maehle suspended after controversial red cards against Sassuolo, plus Mario Pasalic out with a sprained ankle. Jose Luis Palomino and Davide Zappacosta returned.
Teun Koopmeiners forced a save from Ivan Provedel with his daisy-cutter from distance, as did Hans Hateboer with a volley at the back post, as Atalanta started with a very aggressive high press.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was irritated when Immobile stole the ball off him as he was about to shoot from the edge of the box, ballooning over the bar.
Provedel flew to fingertip a deflected Ademola Lookman strike onto the crossbar, but he could do nothing when Adam Marusic intercepted Lookman, effectively setting the ball up for Zappacosta to bend a perfect right-foot finish into the far top corner from just inside the area.
Rasmus Hojlund drilled just wide, but in trying to chase him down, Alessio Romagnoli felt his hamstring go and immediately asked to be substituted.
Mattia Zaccagni was booked, so will be suspended against Salernitana, but then forced a great save out of Juan Musso after Berat Djimsiti’s giveaway.
Straight after the restart, Immobile tested Musso after cutting inside a defender, then Hojlund sprinted from his own half past three defenders to be denied by Provedel one-on-one with a simply remarkable change of pace.
Giorgio Scalvini and Marten de Roon were booked, so will be suspended against Lecce, while Hateboer was carried off in agony after seeming to sprain his knee.
Atalanta doubled their lead when Luis Alberto gave it away in midfield, Lookman rolled across from the left and Patric did not cut it out, allowing Hojlund to come sliding in from a yard.
Musso plucked a Manuel Lazzari strike out from under the bar, but there was no way back into this game, as instead Koopmeiners saw his effort deflected over from close range in stoppages.
Lazio 0-2 Atalanta
Zappacosta 23 (A), Hojlund 65 (A)
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