Roma had won only two of the previous 15 meetings with Atalanta, yet they were gifted an ideal opportunity to improve that record seven minutes in when Paulo Dybala pounced upon Ederson’s underhit backpass and set up Evan Ferguson, whose initial effort was saved by Marco Carnesecchi, before his chipped rebound was headed off the line by the backtracking Berat Djimsiti.
Atalanta responded well and took the lead just five minutes later when Nicola Zalewski’s corner was spilt by Mile Svilar and bundled in by Giorgio Scalvini, whose second goal of the season stood following a long VAR check.
The team scoring first had won 16 of Roma’s 17 matches this season, but La Dea were not leaving anything to chance as Zalewski spurned an opportunity and Gianluca Scamacca curled a strike just wide.
Scamacca then towered above the visiting defence to head home Lorenzo Bernasconi’s deep cross, only for an even longer VAR intervention to disallow it for an offside in the build-up.
After neither side could produce a clear-cut chance late in the first half, the second period began with Ferguson forcing Carnesecchi into a fine stop after the Irishman expertly created shooting space in a congested penalty area, before the home goalkeeper had to stand firm to avoid Matias Soule’s strike catching him out at his near post.
With the Roman storm weathered, Raffaele Palladino’s side came close to a second as the match approached its final quarter, as a swift attack culminated in Bernasconi shooting narrowly wide.
A looping Nikola Krstovic header sailing over from a corner in the final 10 minutes was the extent of Atalanta’s late efforts to seal the points, but with a Dybala bicycle kick trickling well wide the best Roma could produce at the other end, La Dea comfortably avoided back-to-back home defeats for the first time since March.
A fourth defeat in six sees Roma’s title challenge continue to dissolve, with all of those defeats coming by a single goal, adding to their frustrations.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nicola Zalewski (Atalanta)