Napoli fights back twice in 2-2 draw with Roma
Donyell Malen scored his second brace in a row for Roma but host Napoli twice came from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw in Serie A. The result kept Napoli in third place, three points ahead of Roma after 25 rounds. Leader Inter Milan beat fifth-place Juventus 3-2 on Saturday for its sixth straight win in all competitions, increasing its gap to rival AC Milan to eight points. Napoli is three points behind AC Milan, which has a game in hand.
Malen, the Dutch forward who signed on loan from Aston Villa in the winter transfer window, also scored twice in Roma’s 2-0 win against Cagliari on Feb. 9. Malen opened the scoring Sunday in the seventh minute, then converted a 71st-minute penalty kick in Roma’s only two attempts on target. Leonardo Spinazzola scored for Napoli in the 40th and substitute Alisson Santos sealed the draw in the 82nd with a right-footed shot from about 25 meters (yards) out. Substitute Robinio Vaz had a couple of late chances to give Roma the lead again.
Other results: Eighth-place Bologna ended a four-game losing streak in the league with a 2-1 victory over 14th-place Torino. Santiago Castro scored the 70th-minute winner. Midtable Sassuolo picked up its third win in four matches by beating Udinese 2-1 with goals two minutes apart from Armand Lauriente and Andrea Pinamonti in the second half. Parma won 2-1 against last-place Verona, which played with 10 men from the 11th minute as Gift Orban was shown a straight red card. Mateo Pellegrino scored Parma’s winner three minutes into second-half stoppage time.
