Updated at 22.12

NAPOLI’S 100% 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.

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.”

Roma striker 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 Roger 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.

Meanwhile, Paulo Dybala saved Juventus on Sunday with a controversial late penalty which earned his team a 1-1 draw at Inter Milan.

Argentina forward Dybala slotted home his spot-kick with a minute left after Denzel Dumfries was ruled to have kicked Alex Sandro, a decision that enraged Inter to the point that coach Simone Inzaghi was sent off by referee Maurizio Mariani.

Juve are up to sixth on 15 points, level with Atalanta and Fiorentina, while champions Inter stay seven points behind Napoli and city rivals AC Milan in the title race.

Inter thought they had won the match thanks to a goal from Edin Dzeko, who rolled into an empty net in the 17th minute after Hakan Calhanoglu’s rocket of a shot rebounded to him off the crossbar.

It was another important goal from Dzeko, who also starred in Inter’s 3-1 Champions League win over Sheriff Tiraspol midweek and has quickly become a fan favourite at the San Siro after arriving from Roma in the summer.

Juve were fortunate to get a point, not only because of the way the penalty came about, but because of another underwhelming display.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side offered little in the way of goal threat even after the introduction of Federico Chiesa and Dybala just after the hour mark.

Inter meanwhile were livid at being denied a win in what is traditionally their biggest domestic home match of the season thanks to what they saw a very soft penalty.

 © – AFP, 2021