The hosts hit the ground running, and after Matteo Darmian had scuffed a good chance at the back post, they took the lead with just three minutes on the clock.
Marcus Thuram’s whipped ball into the box hit the outstretched boot of defender Berat Djimsiti and bobbled into the back of the net after wrong-footing goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
Hakan Calhanoglu then saw a fizzing free-kick saved, before Nicolo Barella doubled the lead with a sensational volley, as he met a dipping ball outside the area and unleashed a curling strike that arrowed into the top corner.
It was a breathless start, and La Dea were keen to have their say on it, with Davide Zappacosta nearly pulling one back when Yann Sommer acrobatically kept out his wicked strike from the edge of the box, while Mateo Retegui haplessly angled the rebound over the bar.
The forward had another chance shortly afterwards, although again failed to hit the target, as did Lazar Samardzic, with the UEFA Europa League champions unable to reduce the deficit before the break.
The second half started in a similar fashion to the first, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan flashing narrowly wide as Inter pushed for a third.
Seconds later, Simone Inzaghi’s men found exactly what they were looking for as Thuram poked home with the outside of his right boot when Atalanta failed to clear a ball into the box.
WIthin eight minutes the Frenchman had another in near identical fashion, prodding his fourth of the campaign past Carnesecchi when charging onto Mkhitaryan’s knockdown.
That killed off any further resistance from Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, who were still reeling from losing to Torino last week.
The hosts, who spent large chunks of the remaining half an hour passing the ball around their own half, were able to withdraw some of their key players as the half wore on, and had a fifth ruled out when Federico Dimarco converted from an offside position late on, but it mattered not, as the job had well and truly been done.
It’s now 13 head-to-head's without defeat for Inter, a run stretching back to late 2018, and serves as La Dea’s joint-heaviest league defeat since losing 7-1 to the same opposition back in March 2017.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan)
