Atalanta stayed hot on the heels of Serie A leaders Napoli on Monday by winning 2-0 at struggling Roma, who were playing at home for the first time since Claudio Ranieri's return as coach of his boyhood club.
Atalanta are one point behind Napoli thanks to Marten De Roon's wildly deflected strike in the 69th minute and former Roma attacker Nicolo Zaniolo's late header which gave the Bergamo club their eighth straight win all competitions.
Atalanta are out on their own in second place, two points ahead of champions Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, after the perfect start to a tough mini-run of fixtures with AC Milan and Real Madrid visiting in the coming days.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side, who made history by winning the Europa League last season, look more convincing as Scudetto challengers with each passing week.
✅ Eight successive wins
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) December 2, 2024
✅ One point away from the log-leaders in #SerieA
Atalanta are leaving the capital on a MASSIVE high 🙌 pic.twitter.com/0rpVZkCMgh
Atalanta are a traditionally small club who have never been crowed Italian champions but are the division's leading scorers, have the top goalscorer in Mateo Retegui and are on an eight-match winning run in Serie A.
Roma meanwhile are two points above the relegation zone in 15th after a sixth defeat in seven league matches, and although Ranieri's team were well-drilled his players created little beyond early potshots from Leandro Paredes and Manu Kone.
Fans welcomed Ranieri back to the Stadio Olimpico with a series of chants and banners, and during the pre-match warm-up Roma's players also wore T-shirts with the message "Forza Edo" for Edoardo Bove, who collapsed while playing for Fiorentina against Inter Milan.
Bove, a Roma academy product on loan at Fiorentina from Roma since August, is conscious at Florence's Careggi hospital and undergoing tests to determine why he suddenly fell with 16 minutes gone of Sunday's fixture, which was called off and will be finished later in the season.
The 22-year-old was part of the Roma team guided by Jose Mourinho which won the inaugural Europa Conference League in 2022 and reached the following season's Europa League final.
Inter and Fiorentina both have a game in hand on Atalanta due to their match being stopped for Bove's fall.