Napoli thwarts Roma's bid to reclaim top spot
Napoli thwarted AS Roma's attempt to reclaim first place in the Serie A standings with a 1-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico, where David Neres's goal moved the defending champion level on points with AC Milan at the summit.
Having already lost to both AC and Inter Milan this season, Roma was again found wanting against one of its main title rivals, and was undone by a Napoli counter nine minutes before the break.
Two successive wins had taken Roma clear at the summit, but in a congested top six, Milan moved to 28 points and claimed top spot by defeating Lazio 1-0, and Napoli sits behind the Rossoneri on goal difference.
Roma is one point behind in fourth, level with third-placed Inter Milan. Bologna, which hosts Cremonese on Tuesday, is three points further adrift in fifth, alongside Como.
There was a frantic end-to-end start with Napoli causing more danger early on in front of goal.
A quick attack from the visitor brought Roma keeper Mile Svilar out of his area to deny Noa Lang before scrambling back to stop Rasmus Hojlund's follow-up effort and Giovanni Di Lorenzo volleyed an effort into the side netting.
Lang then twisted and turned his way into the area, and his cross-shot almost caught out Svilar but the Roma keeper got one hand across to bat the ball away.
Roma finally began to threaten. Lorenzo Pellegrini's pull-back from the byline almost set Evan Ferguson up for a tap-in but Amir Rrahmani got there first to clear for a corner.
Ferguson headed over another chance, and just when it appeared Roma was getting the upper hand, Napoli broke quickly to take the lead.
Hojlund sent Neres running through one-on-one with Svilar and he coolly chipped the ball over the on-rushing keeper, to net his third goal in two Serie A games.
Napoli controlled the tempo after the break, never committing too many men forward and Roma struggled to make any inroads towards an equaliser, while the visitor was always a threat on the counter.
Roma sent on Paulo Dybala and Neil El Aynaoui just after the hour mark, having already replaced Ferguson with Tommaso Baldanzi at the break but the hosts never troubled the Napoli keeper until the 90th minute.
Baldanzi forced Vanja Milinkovic-Savic into a late save, but it was too little and too late from Roma and Antonio Conte's Napoli side earned back-to-back wins in a title race with little margin for error.
