October 25, (THEWILL) – The 0-0 stalemate between Roma and Napoli in the Derby del Sole was particularly disappointing given the excitement of Sunday’s fixtures across Europe, such as the El Clasico in Spain and the high-profile thriller in England between Manchester United and Liverpool.
Following the midweek debacle in Norway, José Mourinho reverted to his tried and trusted lineup, opting for a 4-2-3-1 formation led by Tammy Abraham and supported by Nicol Zaniolo, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and captain Lorenzo Pellegrini. The double pivot was manned by Bryan Cristante and Jordan Veretout.
Luciano Spalletti, on the other hand, chose his strongest lineup against his former club, starting Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Lorenzo Insigne and Matteo Politano on the wings and Piotr Zielinski in the hole in front of André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Fabian Ruiz.
In the early exchanges, Rick Karsdorp’s squared ball reached Pellegrini inside the Napoli penalty box in the 7th minute, but the Roma captain’s shot was blocked by Kalidou Koulibaly’s sliding effort.
Tammy Abraham came close to breaking the deadlock after a quiet period. Cristante won the ball in the middle of the park and played a brilliant through ball to the Englishman, but his shot went wide of the far post.
During the first half, Osimhen posed a threat to the Giallorossi defence with a few runs. He managed to beat Gianluca Mancini off the ball on one occasion, but Rui Patricio made a fantastic save, and the linesman raised his flag to signal offside.
The referee blew the half-time whistle after a minor squabble between Mancini and Osimhen, signalling the end of a largely underwhelming 45 minutes.
The start of the second half was much the same, until Osimhen’s big chance in the 58th minute. Politano squared the ball to the Nigerian after receiving a through ball in the box, but Mancini’s heroics were just enough to direct the shot towards the post. The Roma centre back suffered an injury when he and teammate Roger Ibanez collided with the post.
Roma responded with a chance of their own when Karsdorp delivered a sublime long ball into the Napoli box, but the captain’s volley was blocked.
The home side should have taken the lead in the 72nd minute when Pellegrini delivered a beautiful cross from a dead ball, but Mancini’s header went just wide of David Ospina’s goal.
Mourinho was visibly agitated throughout the match, and he was eventually sent off with a second yellow card for repeatedly questioning the officials’ decisions.
Osimhen finally scored with a header from Fabian’s cross just before the end of the second half, but his goal was disallowed due to a clear offside call.
With both managers, Mourinho and Spalletti, receiving red cards, their teams settled for a point in a largely fair draw at the end of the day. Roma ended their winless run, while Napoli could be satisfied with a hard-earned point away from home while returning to joint leadership of the table.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
