Rome (AFP) - Napoli stopped the consecutive victories of its guest, Lazio, the leaders, when they forced them to a 1-1 draw on Sunday at the Diego Armadno Maradona Stadium in Naples at the top of the eleventh round of the Italian Football Championship.

Published on: 08/11/2026 - 15:03 Last updated: 08/11/2026 - 15:25

Lazio, the only team that had not suffered any defeat after 11 rounds, was on its way to its seventh successive victory and the tenth this season when it imposed its advantage over the course of the first half and ended it in its favor with a goal by its international midfielder Davide Fratesse in the 28th minute following a pass from the Dutchman Tijani Nosslin, scoring his fourth goal this season.

The home team rose up in the second half and created many chances, of which they converted only one, which was through friendly fire, when Spanish substitute defender Alfonso Pedrasa accidentally sent a cross into his team's goal (48).

Veteran Belgian international midfielder Kevin De Bruyne missed a golden opportunity to give Napoli the lead alone when he received a long ball from Serbian international goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, but Lazio's Moroccan international midfielder Reda Belhiane cleared the ball before it crossed the goal line (59).

Napoli was under great pressure to achieve a positive result after the two defeats against Juventus locally and Porto in the European Champions League led to the team entering a closed training camp in an attempt to restore its declining level.

However, the southern team was only able to score a point against Gennaro Gattuso's squad, which is still unbeaten this season, as Lazio continued its distinguished performances and moved away from the lead with 29 points, two points ahead of its closest competitor, Roma, who won over Sassuolo 3-0 on Saturday, and four points ahead of Inter, its former partner in the lead and the defending champion, who hosts Como IV in the second fiery summit of the stage later, and 14 points behind Napoli, which is in tenth place.

Lazio failed to win away from home for the first time in the league this season.

The draw did not satisfy either coach Massimiliano Allegri, who is still under pressure, or the angry Napoli fans.

Last season's runner-up left the field amid booing from his fans.

The team, which is suffering from a clear crisis of confidence, is still stuck in the middle of the standings in tenth place with 15 points, and gives the impression that it is standing on the brink of collapse in light of the difficulty of the players concealing their frustration and the increasing criticism directed at their coach.

Allegri took over as coach of Napoli this summer, succeeding Antonio Conte. Although it is likely that he will continue in his position during the international break, the room for maneuver available to him has become very limited, as Napoli lost seven out of the 15 matches it played this season, and it has also become late in the league race and is going through a difficult situation in the Champions League.

The former coach of Juventus and Milan said in his statements to the Dazon network: “We did not perform a good first half,” adding, “We must keep what we presented after the break. We must start from that, especially since the break will allow us to recover a number of players who are currently injured.”

He continued, "There are always difficult moments during the season, but I am still confident and feel fine. When you are at sea in the middle of a storm, you always succeed in getting the ship to safety."

Genoa will also play later with Milan, Montsa with Atalanta, and Fiorentina with Juventus.

© 2026 AFP

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