Champions Inter sit third, two points behind leaders Milan, after a breathless match at the San Siro which ended with substitute Federico Dimarco hitting the bar with an 86th minute penalty and Roberto Piccoli then having a last-gasp winner for Atalanta ruled out amid frantic protests from the away side. Atalanta are fifth following the draw which highlighted the attacking threat and the clear intention from Gian Piero Gasperini's side to continue to punch above their weight in Italy's top flight.
"We've got a bitter taste from the draw, we feel that we could have had more," Inter coach Simone Inzaghi told DAZN. "We fell apart a bit after the penalty, but we were excellent in much of the first half and the second against a very good Atalanta team."
Lautaro Martinez put Inter ahead in the fifth minute with a superb first-time finish from the excellent Nicolo Barella's cross. However, Atalanta stunned the home fans thanks to a Ruslan Malinovskyi missile on the half hour and Rafael Toloi's rebound effort eight minutes later. Atalanta dominated for long periods after levelling and could have added three more early in the second half. Malinovskyi hit the post and had a close range effort saved while Jose Luis Palomino should have done better with his close range header from a corner.
Inzaghi's Inter reacted and could have easily been out of sight themselves before academy graduate Dimarco smashed the crossbar with his spot-kick, with Juan Musso pulling off spectacular saves from Matias Vecino and Barella.
Edin Dzeko levelled the scores in the 71st minute when Musso pushed Dimarco's low shot out to the waiting Bosnia forward to tap home. However the real drama came in the final 10 minutes, with Inter fans preparing themselves for a huge win as local boy Dimarco lined up for his penalty, given after Merih Demiral handled as Dzeko lined up a header.
Their disappointment turned to despondency when Piccoli's weak shot squirmed under Samir Handanovic's hand, only for the whole ground to break out into a huge roar when the goal was chalked off for the ball crossing the byline in the build up.
"There were some moments of euphoria for one team and then moments of euphoria for the other," Gasperini told DAZN. "It was a great match, the players tried to win it right up to the very end and we created lots of chances... We have to be satisfied with having played like that."