There was more action on the touchline than on the field.
It ended 0-0 at the Stadio Olimpico, this was the first stalemate in the Serie A season.
Napoli came into the contest confident since they won their eight opening matches in the Serie A. They had control of the match on Sunday, their best chance coming through Victor Osimhen, who struck the post in the second half of the game.
AS Roma hardly created enough chances but they got the finest one from their striker Tammy Abraham, who slotted wide from a quality place in the first half.
Later Napoli’s Osimhen thought he won it for his team, but his header was ruled out as offside.
As Roma’s performance showed they were struggling in the second half. It became too much for Mourinho, he was already booked for dissent. Then he protested a potential foul which got him a second yellow, hence the special one getting a red card.
Meantime, Spalletti was having conflict with the Roma fans, who believe he forced Francesco Totti into retirement.
As the ultras shouted abuse at him, he decided to respond with a sarcastic wave to thank them. This was a bad idea because in the final minutes Spalletti clapped for referee Davide Massa for his control of the match. Massa assumed it was snide applaud and sent Spalletti off for dissent, leaving the coach gobsmacked.
Mourinho said after game: “I was asking for a situation in our favour, but I didn’t say anything special, nothing that warranted being sent off for,”
“But it is not a match in which the referee has done wrong, the feeling is that the referee has done a positive job.”
Even though Napoli did not get the three points they wanted, managed to stay on top of the league on goal difference above AC Milan with the one point they got in the draw.
Roma’s impressive start to the season is praised winning two out of the six games to sit fourth another positive is holding the leaders of Serie A to a tie at home especially not a lot of teams achieved to get a point off them this season, this gives them confidence next time they meet each other.