Napoli hold Lazio in Serie A clash

Lazio maintained their unbeaten record after a tough Serie A clash ended in a 1-1 draw with Napoli on Sunday.

Lazio scored both goals as Alfonso Pedraza’s own goal canceled out Davide Frattesi’s opener, handing under-pressure Max Allegri a point at the Maradona.

Allegri has been under huge pressure after suffering defeats against Juventus and Porto.

Gennaro Gattuso returned to his former club after winning his last six Serie A games, with no Lazio fans allowed to travel because the fixture was classed as high-risk.

Lazio made the stronger start as Gustav Isaksen’s shot went wide inside two minutes, and only a flying save from Vanja Milinković-Savić stopped his curling shot seven minutes later. 

The Napoli goalkeeper was again called into action when he clawed away Josip Šutalo’s header from a corner.

The visitors eventually opened the scoring just before the half-hour through a counter-attack. Tijjani Noslin slipped in Frattesi, who arrived late in the box and drilled a low shot past Milinković-Savić for his fourth goal of the season.

Lazio then had to make a change after they lost Šutalo to a muscular injury, and Napoli grew into the game. 

The hosts had a chance to restore parity before half-time when Mathias Olivera’s cutback found Rasmus Højlund two yards out, but Christos Mandas scrambled the Dane’s effort off the line.

The hosts eventually leveled as Nuno Tavares’ replacement, Pedraza, scored an own goal three minutes into the second half.

Noa Lang crossed from the left, and Pedraza, stretching to stop Scott McTominay’s volley, turned the ball into his own net.

With momentum in favor of Napoli, they pushed for a winner, but Mandas stopped them with a close-range save from McTominay, denied Kevin De Bruyne in a one-on-one, and Diogo Leite cleared the loose ball off the line. Olivera also failed to hit the target,  lifting a good chance over the bar.

It became an open affair as both coaches made changes from the bench. Still, Mandas kept out a low shot from substitute Lorenzo Lucca, and Milinković-Savić saved from Matteo Cancellieri at the other end.

Lazio now have 29 points, two above Roma, who defeated Sassuolo on Saturday night.