Monza’s bright start turned to dust in an instant as De Ketelaere turned Pedro Pereira inside out, spinning his marker into oblivion and slotting the ball past Semuel Pizzignacco with icy composure to end his 16-game scoring drought.
The opener ignited Atalanta, with Mario Retegui and Ademola Lookman both guilty of wasting point-blank chances, before Samuel Birindelli spurned a shot wide of the left post at the other end.
Any hope of a Biancorossi response soon evaporated when De Ketelaere punished Gaeatano Castrovilli’s catastrophic touch with a first-time finish to seal his brace and La Dea’s dominance.
The visitors, however, threatened via Gianluca Caprari and Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro, but Marco Carnesecchi stood tall with two clutch saves to preserve Atalanta’s healthy lead at the break.
Alessandro Nesta’s men were caught cold immediately after the restart as Ademola Lookman surged into the Monza box after latching onto Retegui’s header and coolly slotted Atalanta's third into the near post.
Ederson then squandered a point-blank header, shortly before Retegui placed his shot a fraction wide of the right post to leave the home defence scrambling.
Monza raised their intensity, but it proved too late, and Carnesecchi’s brilliance in goal ensured any hopes of a comeback were dashed. Instead, the away side added a fourth goal late on, as Marco Brescianini coolly slotted in after being picked out by Mario Pasalic.
Gian Piero Gasperini is now just one victory away from matching Atalanta’s best-ever Serie A points tally, and a UEFA Champions League berth seems ever so likely as they lift themselves five points above fourth-placed Lazio. Meanwhile, Monza will prepare for life in Serie B, as their three-season top-flight stay comes to an end.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta)
