Napoli held to goalless draw by Monza

ROME: Defending Serie A champions Napoli saw their non-winning league ways continue Friday with a goalless draw against mid-table Monza.

The result left Walter Mazzarri´s team, missing banned strikers Matteo Politano and Victor Osimhen, in seventh place in the table on 28 points.

Inter Milan are currently top on 45 points, with Juventus in second on 40.

Mazzarri´s frustrations boiled over with his misfiring side, and the coach was shown a yellow card in the 82nd minute. His Monza counterpart Raffaele Palladino was also sent off from the sidelines late in the game.

Monza´s Matteo Pessina had a penalty saved by Mario Rui, guilty of handball, in the 65th minute, while Napoli´s best chance came from a first-half effort by Zambo Anguissa.

Leaders Inter Milan were also held to a draw at newly-promoted Genoa in one of two later games on Friday.

Such was the smoke from flares early in the first half in Genoa, the referee was forced to halt the game for eight minutes before it cleared and play resumed. Inter went on to open the scoring through Marko Arnautovic in the 42nd minute after he picked up on a parried Nicolo Barella strike for his first goal of the season.

Genoa drew level in the dying seconds of the opening period thanks to a powerful Radu Dragusin header from a corner.

The pick of Saturday´s action sees Juventus hosting Roma, who beat Napoli 2-0 last week. Juve could move to within a point of Inter with a victory over Jose Mourinho´s team.