It’s been a fantastic season for Atalanta, with the Bergamo club having won a club-record 11 straight league matches coming into this game as part of a thrilling title charge.
It was Lazio who started the brighter in this contest however, with Mattéo Guendouzi striking the crossbar with a brilliant curled effort after a flurry of early half-chances for the hosts.
Atalanta never appeared comfortable in the early stages - particularly in the centre of their defence - and another Lazio press saw Nicolò Rovella smartly lob the ball over the advancing opposition defenders and set free Dele-Bashiru, who made no mistake with his composed finish from 12 yards.
It was somewhat peculiar to see an Atalanta side, who had scored nine goals from their last two games, be contained so easily by Marco Baroni’s men who sailed into half-time with their lead rarely threatened.
There’s a reason why Atalanta have been so impressive this season, however, and they weren't about to take defeat lying down. They would have found an equaliser on the hour mark if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Lazio keeper Ivan Provedel, who made a stunning intervention to deny Ademola Lookman.
Although this barely bothered Lazio, who had a star performer of their own in Rovella, who showed his capabilities at both ends of the pitch whilst controlling the tempo in a sumptuous performance.
With the visitors' patience wearing thin, Lazio were able to threaten again and Dele-Bashiru should have doubled his tally for the evening when he inexplicably miscued from just 10 yards.
It’s a miss that proved costly, as after Luca Pellegrini cleared Lookman’s effort off the line in the dying stages, the Nigerian laid it on for Marco Brescianini to score with just two of the 90 minutes remaining and rescue Lazio’s first league draw since August.
They remain in the top-four and six points adrift of Atalanta, who overtake Inter by a point at the top of the table, albeit having played a game more.