Mueez Ajao
– Napoli’s 100 percent start to the Serie A season came to an end on Sunday with a goalless draw at Roma which halted their winning run at eight matches.
– Napoli retake top spot in the Italian top flight but are level on 25 points with AC Milan following their hard-fought win at Bologna on Saturday.
– The draw means Roma keep the record for the most wins from the start of a Serie A season, with 10 consecutive victories in 2013/14.
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– Both sides will be ruing missed chances which could have decided a tight, at times poorly tempered match between two rivals which saw both coaches sent off.
– Roma boss Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands for dissent with nine minutes left while an incredulous Luciano Spalletti was shown a red card for what referee Davide Massa thought was sarcastic applause.
– It was a decent result for Roma, who needed a good showing following their six-goal humilation at the hands of Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt in midweek.
– “It’s a good point, we came here knowing Roma wanted to react after Thursday’s defeat and had their fans behind them,” Kouliblay said to DAZN.
– “The important thing was not concede, because we know that we can score at any moment. Not everyone can come here and keep a clean sheet.”
– Tammy Abraham should have opened the scoring in the 28th minute after being set clean through on goal by Bryan Cristante, but he could only roll a great chance wide.
– That was the best opportunity of the opening half, although Lorenzo Insigne shot over from a very presentable position shortly before half-time.
– The game opened up much more after the break however, with Napoli striking the woodwork twice in three minutes around the hour mark.
– Both times Victor Osimhen was involved, first forcing the ball onto the post via a deflection from Roma defender Ibanez before his header from Piotr Zielinski’s corner.
– With Napoli on top, Roma responded with a clutch of chances of their own, with Lorenzo Pellegrini twice off target when in good positions.
– However the home fans had their heads in their hands when Gianluca Mancini headed a glorious chance wide with 18 minutes left, somehow failing to find the target when Pellegrini’s free-kick found him completely unmarked.
– Osimhen then had a bullet header goal correctly ruled out for offside, and that was that before the players surrounded Massa at the final whistle and collected several yellow cards.
