Roma recorded their eighth draw in nine Serie A games when they were held 0-0 at lowly Chievo yesterday while crisis club Parma were involved in another goalless stalemate on their league return.

“This draw is different from the other ones,” Roma coach Rudy Garcia told Sky Sports Italia.

“It’s an unsettling draw.

“We played poorly, everyone was just standing around. I didn’t recognise my team.”

Second-placed Roma are now eight points adrift of runaway leaders Juventus (58) who host Sassuolo tonight.

Third-placed Napoli failed to profit from Roma’s umpteenth draw in the Serie A this season when they squandered a two-goal lead as they were held by Inter 2-2 at the San Paolo stadium.

Chievo midfielder Federico Mattiello broke his leg in a sickening collision with Roma’s Radja Nainggolan midway through the first half.

The pair went for a loose ball and some of Mattiello’s team-mates appeared to be in tears on the bench after the 19-year-old fractured his tibia and fibula.

The draw kept Chievo six points clear of the relegation zone.

In Naples, Rafa Benitez’s team dominated the match for much of the first half but could not find a way past Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic who produced a string of fine saves.

However, the Partenopei’s pressure finally drew dividends after 51 minutes when Marek Hamsik latched onto Henrique’s cross to head the ball past Handanovic.

The home side continued to press forward and they looked to have killed off the match when on 61 minutes Higuain let fly a curling drive that flew into the net via the upright.

But Inter refused to throw in the towel and they pulled a goal back through Rodrigo Palacio.

Napoli looked rattled and Inter completed the comeback four minutes from time when they were awarded a penalty after Henrique committed a foul on Palacio.

The Napoli defender was shown a second yellow card and from the spot Mauro Icardi converted to earn Inter a point.

Bottom club Parma, who had their two previous matches called off because of a financial crisis, showed excellent fighting spirit as they picked up a well-deserved point against Atalanta.

Hosts Parma had Cristian Rodriguez red-carded in the 87th minute while several fans displayed banners showing their disapproval of club chief Giampietro Manenti.

Edy Reja’s first game as Atalanta coach ended prematurely when he was sent off for dissent but his side managed to avoid a fifth defeat.

Elsewhere, Antonio Di Natale scored his 10th league goal of the season as Udinese won 3-2 to inflict Torino’s first defeat in 12 games.

Serie A

Cesena 0
Palermo 0

Att: 15,071.

Chievo 0
Roma 0

Att: 10,000.

Empoli 1
Barba 66;
Genoa 1
Niang 27;

HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.

Napoli 2
Hamsik 51; Higuain 63;
Inter 2
Palacio 72; Icardi 87 pen.;

HT: 0-0. Att: 34,000.
Red card: Henrique (N) 86.

Parma 0
Atalanta 0

Att: 10,448.
Red card: Rodriguez (P) 87.

Udinese 3
Di Natale 17; Molinaro 26og; Wague 49;
Torino 2
Quagliarella 15; Benassi 69;

HT: 2-1. Att: 8,000.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	25	17	7	1	52	14	58
Roma	26	13	11	2	38	19	50
Napoli	26	13	7	6	46	33	46
Lazio	25	13	4	8	43	27	43
Fiorentina	25	11	9	5	37	24	42
Sampdoria	26	10	12	4	34	28	42
Genoa	25	9	10	6	37	30	37
Torino	26	9	9	8	30	28	36
Inter	26	9	9	8	41	34	36
Milan	26	8	11	7	37	32	35
Palermo	26	8	11	7	38	39	35
Udinese	25	8	7	10	29	34	31
Empoli	26	5	14	7	26	28	29
Sassuolo	25	6	11	8	29	38	29
Verona	26	7	8	11	31	46	29
Chievo	26	6	8	12	18	30	26
Atalanta	26	5	9	12	22	37	24
Cagliari	26	4	8	14	32	49	20
Cesena	26	4	8	14	24	47	20
Parma (-1)	24	3	3	18	20	47	11

Playing today
Lazio vs Fiorentina - 19.00
Juventus vs Sassuolo - 21.00

Top scorers
15 goals: Tevez (Juventus), Icardi (Inter).
13 goals: Menez (Milan).
12 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Dybala (Palermo).
11 goals: Toni (Verona).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Palermo vs Juventus; 20.45 Cagliari vs Empoli.

Sunday: 15.00 Atalanta vs Udinese; Genoa vs Chievo; Sassuolo vs Parma. 18.00 Verona vs Napoli. 20.45 Inter vs Cesena.

Monday, March 16: 19.00 Fiorentina vs Milan; Torino vs Lazio. 21.00 Roma vs Sampdoria.

Lega Pro

Group A: Lumezzane vs Bassano 0-1; Cremonese vs Feralpisalò 3-2; Novara vs Venezia 3-0; Mantova vs Sassari 2-0; Pordenone vs Alessandria 0-1; AlbinoLeffe vs Renate 0-0; Arezzo vs Pavia 1-1; Giana vs Pro Patria 1-2.

Group B: Pontedera vs Gubbio 0-1; Ascoli vs Lucchese 3-1; Spal vs Prato 0-0.

Group C: Lupa Roma vs Reggina 3-1; Lamezia vs Messina 2-1.