Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v AS Roma - Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy - April 28, 2024 Napoli's Mathias Olivera (not pictured) scores their first goal as AS Roma's Mile Svilar attempts to save it REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
NAPLES, Italy (Reuters) -A wasteful Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at home by AS Roma in Serie A on Sunday, with a late Tammy Abraham header securing a point for the visitors.
Napoli are eighth in the standings with 50 points, while Roma are fifth with 59 with four matches remaining.
The hosts dominated much of the match, with 27 shots to Roma's 10, however, a solid performance from Roma keeper Mile Svilar prevented Napoli from taking all three points.
Napoli coach Francesco Calzona said the result was disappointing.
"I'm bitter tonight. We put in a good performance and I’m happy, but if you don’t win it’s difficult," he told Sky Sports Italia.
"We made mistakes in two episodes: we knew their strength on set-pieces and I specifically added a defender. It wasn’t enough.
"I don’t know what to say. The only thing I can add is that I am happy because we showed pride and quality."
Napoli, who are nine points behind Roma in fifth place with only 12 points left to play for, could face a tough end to the season.
"The lads feel the weight of the situation, which is not great, but I must train them well and try to make them play football," Calzona said.
NAPOLI DOMINATED
Napoli controlled the game in the first half, with both Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia nearly breaking the deadlock.
Against the run of play, Roma took the lead from the penalty spot in the 59th minute, with Paulo Dybala converting after Juan Jesus tripped Sardar Azmoun.
Napoli equalised when a shot from Mathias Olivera deflected off defender Rasmus Kristensen and looped over Svilar and into the net.
The hosts took the lead in the 84th minute when Roma's Renato Sanches fouled Kvaratskhelia in the box and Osimhen converted the penalty.
Yet Roma levelled five minutes later, when Abraham headed in a flicked corner. Initially, the effort was flagged offside, but that was overruled by VAR after several minutes.
With Serie A guaranteed a fifth Champions League spot next season, sixth-placed Atalanta and Lazio in seventh are looking to reel in Roma. Lazio are four points behind, while Atalanta are two points adrift with one match in hand.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better."
De Rossi warned his players about relaxing before the end of the season, especially with their Europa League semi-final first leg against German side Bayer Leverkusen coming up on Thursday.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season," he said.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)
