As one of two defensive changes, Bryan Djimsiti miscued Costa's low cross into his own net under just two minutes to give the Bianconneri the ideal start.
Atalanta were under the ropes from this point, as Rodrigo Bentancur's shot from outside the box was tipped onto the crossbar by Martin Berisha three minutes later.
Veteran defender Girogio Chiellini clashed with teammate Mario Mandzukic whilst trying to head at the back post from a corner later on.
The hosts responded after 25 minutes as Duvan Zapata spinned around his marker to find the bottom corner from a left-footed strike.
Juve aimed for an immediate reply, but Costa's shot from an acute angle could only found the side-netting after 33 minutes.
Atalanta were having a full go at the champions, with Zapata the main individual causing all the havoc.
Five minutes from the break, Papu Gomes aimed to get the home side in front but his header from inside the box following a corner steered across the face of goal.
The road to snatch probable victory was made easier, with Bentancur receiving his marching orders after a second bookable offence on 52 minutes.
A nicely played ball into the box by Zapata forced Wojciech Szczesny off his line to clear a goal-ridden effort from Gianluca Mancini for a corner moments later.
From the corner, lackadaisical defending ended in Zapata nodding home from an unmarked position to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
This prompted Massimiliano Allegri to call on Ronaldo inside the 61st minute for Sami Khedira, while Paulo Dybala flashed a left-foot shot wide in the process.
Atalanta launched a few more efforts on goal, but were let down by indecisive decision-making on their path to the box.
All the while, Juve kept plugging away and just before the final hour, found their rewards as Ronaldo sneaked inside the box to head home from a corner.
A low cross into the middle looked to connect with Mandzukic, but the Croatian wasn't on the same wavelength.
A minute inside added time, Juve thought the come back was completed when Leonardo Bonucci headed in from a corner, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside as the points are shared.
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