The visitors made a bright start and came within inches of breaking the deadlock inside seven minutes, when Aleksei Miranchuk’s effort went marginally wide following a wonderful passing move.
Lorenzo Pirola made a vital block to keep out a Gianluca Scamacca strike after 15 minutes as the visitors kept pressing, only for the rock-bottom side to catch Atalanta on the break soon after.
Emanuel Vignato drew two defenders and prodded the ball through to Loum Tchaouna, who beat the offside trap, cut inside and buried the ball past Marco Carnesecchi.
The setback did little to quash La Dea’s faith in pouring men forward - Ademola Lookman dragged a shot wide when it looked easier to score, and Scamacca continued to be thwarted by home goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo and the deep-lying defence ahead of him. That defence could breathe a sigh of relief in first-half stoppage time when they saw another Scamacca attempt fly wide.
Atalanta knew that a win would move them above Roma and into a Champions League place, but it was not looking like their day five minutes after the break when Lookman picked the ball up 40 yards out and dribbled through the defence, only to drag another effort wide.
However, their luck finally changed in the 57th minute, when a deep cross was headed back across goal by Mario Pasalic and fired home by Scamacca.
The turnaround was complete six minutes later when a Lookman corner picked out Matteo Ruggeri. His shot was blocked and after a couple of ricochets, the ball was half-cleared to Teun Koopmeiners, who showed great composure to guide a curling shot into the bottom corner from over 25 yards.
If Atalanta thought that was the job done, Stefano Colantuono’s men had other ideas; only a crucial Hans Hateboer block preserved the lead following Domagoj Bradaric’s strike.
With nothing to lose, Salernitana pressed for an equaliser, but after Tchaouna blazed over late on, they were set for a fourth-consecutive loss, remaining without a win in 2024.
Meanwhile, just a fourth away league win in 12 for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side is ideal preparation for their Europa League semi-final second leg against Marseille on Thursday.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mario Pasalic (Atalanta)
You can find the match stats here
