If you didn’t tune into Atalanta and Napoli on Saturday evening, you missed out.

On a typically chilly Bergamasco night, the two sides produced a barnburner of a game that will arguably go down as one of the best games of the Serie A season.

The away side ultimately won a gripping game 3-2, in which they were pegged back twice by a spirited Atalanta side who continually took the game to their opponents which, in the end, was detrimental.

You’d be hard-pressed to find five better goals in a single match this season in the Italian top flight, a game that was played at a relentless pace amid a crackling atmosphere with title ambitions on the line, even at this stage. Both teams went into the game in similar moods.

It had been a problematic week for the Partenopei, with the departure of key player Kvincha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain.  The transfer was only confirmed on Friday evening, but it was known for some time that the Georgian wasn’t long for a Naples world, with the player demanding to leave in January instead of staying for the rest of the season.

Much of the talk leading into the game was focused on Kvaratskhelia and how Napoli would fare without the winger. On the evidence of last night, they’ll be just fine.

Atalanta, meanwhile, had suffered a slight drop in form. Three consecutive draws ended their 11-game winning streak, and such was the relentless pace Inter and Napoli were cutting atop the table, another setback would’ve proven to see a three-horse race lose one.

La Dea needed a win against Napoli to stay in the fight, especially with Inter having a game in hand. That desire to win ultimately cost them. 

Things started rosy for the home side when Mateo Retegui lashed home his 14th goal of the season from a remarkable angle.

The Italo-Argentine had little space to work in. Surrounded by white Napoli shirts inside the penalty box, Retegui swivelled and unleashed a left-foot rocket — without much back-lift — that flew into Alex Meret’s top right-hand corner.

Cue absolute delirium from the home support inside the Gewiss Stadium, with the sold-out stadium making an incredible din.

Yet by half-time they were 2-1 down. An Antonio Conte side was never going to wilt that easily, even in one of the hardest places to earn three points in the country. A superb strike from Matteo Politano and a nice finish from Scott McTominay five minutes before half-time had turned the game on its head. The league leaders were showing why they sit atop the Italian mountain.

Ademola Lookman, who hadn’t scored in three games and had just two in his last seven for Atalanta going into the game, took centre stage and equalised.

Producing a deft little pass around the other side of a lunging Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Lookman charged into the Napoli box, got lucky after being dispossessed by Politano only for the ball to hit off the player’s heel and deflect into the Nigerian’s path. In a flash, Lookman smashed the ball into the corner of Meret’s goal to restore parity. The Gewiss once more went into hysteria.

Gasperini, being Gasperini, decided to go for the jugular and demanded his side continue to press for the winner. Often this can work, but against Napoli it didn’t.

Moreover, his decision to take off both Retegui and Lookman, no doubt mindful of the resumption of the Champions League next week, hampered Atalanta offensively.

Gasperini’s apparoach, which has won plaudits across Europe, played into Conte’s hands. Atalanta were leaving more space open for Napoli to exploit, and an away goal always felt like coming. And Romelu Lukaku provided it.

Leonardo Spinazzola and Franck-Zambo Anguissa exchanged passes down the left-hand side, and the Cameroonian dug out a gorgeous cross in the direction of the Belgian, who was in the right place to smartly plant his header beyond Marco Carnesecchi.

Lukaku hasn’t been as prolific as his time at Inter, it was only his eigth goal of the season, but he’s coming up big when it matters. His goal against Atalanta can be added to earlier strikes against AC Milan, Fiorentina and Roma. He’s coming up big when it matters.

Atalanta had little response, and the game petered out to a deafening response from the away fans tucked in the corner of the Gewiss. 

Gasperini found the result ‘hard to digest’, and the question remains whether this is the end of Atalanta’s title ambitions. 

Now seven points from Napoli and one behind the Nerazzurri but with the latter possessing two games in hand, we’re likely looking at a straight fight between Conte and his old club for the Scudetto.

Gasperini’s style of football, in addition to squad limitations, played a big part in the defeat. 

Atalanta have punched above their weight for so long now they’re considered one of Italy’s biggest clubs and, as a consequence, a run of four games without a win while still being ahead of Juventus, Milan and Roma in the table, is considered a major defeat. 

The argument could be made that Gasperini lacks a plan B, with Plan A’s all-out attack zapping energy from an already thin squad. 

It should never be forgotten that Atalanta have the eighth-highest wage bill in the league, and while a serious title tilt would’ve been the stuff of dreams for supporters and neutrals, it was perhaps always a bit out of each; simply too much ground to make up on Napoli and Inter.

Gasperini’s poor record against Conte continues. This was Gasperini’s sixth defeat over the course of his career, and Conte has revenge for the 3-0 demolition earlier in the season.

Champions League qualification is still on course, and La Dea now have a more straight forward stretch of games over the next month, and could get back into it if Napoli and Inter suffer their own patches of indifferent form.

But amid all the noise, goals, flares and action at the Gewiss Stadium, Serie A could’ve well lost a title challenger for good.