Atalanta rediscovered the form that made it Serie A's most entertaining side last season as it hit back with four second-half goals to thump AS Roma 4-1 on Sunday.
After finishing third last season and scoring 98 goals in the process, Atalanta has struggled for consistency and it was widely reported last week that coach Gian Piero Gasperini had fallen out with team captain Alejandro Gomez.
"We played the first half like warriors, and the second half like kids with a completely different attitude," said furious Roma coach Paulo Fonseca.
"If we had maintained the attitude we showed in the first half, we could have beaten any opponent. The team let their heads drop for no reason, it's hard to understand what happened today."
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Gomez did not even make the bench on Sunday and Roma ahead after only three minutes when Edin Dzeko took advantage of slack marking to turn in Henrikh Mkhitaryan's cross.
The visitor could easily have had a second before halftime as Leonardo Spinazzola's lob hit the post and Lorenzo Pellegrini forced Pierluigi Gollini to turn away a powerful free kick.
But the game changed completely after Josip Ilicic came on at halftime for the hosts.
Duvan Zapata equalised just before the hour mark from an Ilicic pass and the Slovenian also provided the cross for Robin Gosens to head Atalanta in front in the 70th minute.
Two minutes later, Luis Muriel, who had just come on as a substitute, intercepted a Jordan Veretout pass to add the third and Ilicic scored the fourth himself with a solo goal five minutes from time, weaving his way through the Roma defence.
Roma stayed fourth with 24 points, one ahead of Napoli which was away to Lazio later Sunday, while Atalanta climbed to seventh with 21.
Lazio make the most of their chances in to beat Napoli
Lazio brushed aside its dismal home form in Serie A when goals from Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto gave it a 2-0 win over Napoli on Sunday.
The host scored from its only two shots on target as it notched its second win in seven home league games this season while Napoli slumped to a second defeat in five days after losing 1-0 at Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Napoli stayed fifth with 23 points, eight behind leader AC Milan, while Lazio is eighth with 21.
Immobile volleyed against the crossbar in the sixth minute and three minutes later out jumped two defenders to open the scoring from Adam Marusic's cross, his eighth Serie A goal of the season and his 13th in all competitions.
Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina, facing his former club, saved from Fabian Ruiz and Piotr Zielinski as Gennaro Gattuso's side tried to battle their way back into the game.
However, the visitor also produced few scoring chances despite having 57% of the possession and Luis Alberto curled in a second for Lazio in the 56th minute after Napoli lost the ball in midfield.
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