Atalanta outclassed a sorry Sampdoria 3-0 at home to claim a third successive win and move up to ninth in Italy's Serie A on Sunday.

Atalanta followed up a recent win against Chievo by stunning Lazio at the Olympic Stadium in Rome last week.

Taking full advantage of the spring-like conditions at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium, Stefano Colantuono's men produced a clinical performance to claim only their second win from their last seven encounters with their mid-table neighbours.

Atalanta broke the deadlock just after the half hour, German Denis flicking on for Carlos Carmona to beat Angelo Da Costa with a low volley from the edge of the box.

Giacomo Bonaventura capitalised on poor Samp defending to double Atalanta's lead just before half-time when he rose to meet Luca Cigarini's corner and send a powerful header well beyond Da Costa's reach.

Visiting fans must have been hoping Sinisa Mihajlovic's side would produce a repeat of last week when Samp fought back from 2-0 down to beat Livorno 4-2 at the Luigi Ferraris stadium.

But only 10 minutes after the restart, a fluffed clearance by Nenad Krsticic allowed unmarked Denis to collect the cross from the right and beat Da Costa with ease from close in.

Denis almost grabbed his double moments later but saw his shot on the spin come off the far post.

Samp hit back through Manolo Gabbiadini, who shaved the woodwork with a shot from the edge of the area while Angelo Palombo prompted Andrea Consigli into action in the Atalanta net.

However Da Costa was under pressure until the final whistle, the 'keeper doing well to stop Giuseppe De Luca's angled drive from piling further woe on Samp, who remain 13th but well clear of the drop zone.