Napoli title hopes suffer blow as Roma snatch late draw

NAPLES, Italy: Napoli's Serie A title hopes suffered a huge blow as Stephan El Shaarawy's last-gasp equaliser earned AS Roma a 1-1 draw at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Monday (Apr 18).

The hosts held the lead in a tense clash in Naples for the majority of the contest after captain Lorenzo Insigne broke the deadlock with a well-taken penalty after 11 minutes.

Chasing a first Scudetto since 1990, Napoli looked nervy as they went in search of three points that would have closed the gap on leaders AC Milan, with Roma having several chances to level in the second half.

The home side looked like they had done enough to hold on as the clock passed 90 minutes, before substitute El Shaarawy broke Napoli hearts in stoppage time, firing a leveller that in-form Roma deserved.

The draw left Napoli third in the standings on 67 points from 33 matches, four points behind leaders AC Milan. Roma stayed fifth on 58 points having stretched their unbeaten run in Serie A to 12 matches.