Napoli 3-3 Roma: the balance Allegri has not restored

Napoli led 2-0 after 48 minutes at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and still did not win. Frank Anguissa's overhead kick and a Scott McTominay header had put Massimiliano Allegri's side in control of the Derby del Sole, and Matteo Politano came close to a third. Roma, unbeaten and third, replied through Matías Soulé and a Leonardo Balerdi brace, twice hauling the game level; McTominay's second goal on 83 minutes was not enough, because Balerdi headed in again on 89. The 3-3 leaves Napoli on 11 points and ninth, with three wins, two draws and three defeats from eight matches. Roma stay on 18, a point behind Inter and Lazio.

The raw numbers describe a game Napoli did not dominate. Roma had 61 per cent of the ball, 24 shots to Napoli's 15, and 11 corners to Napoli's two. Napoli, though, had nine shots on target to Roma's four, four big chances to Roma's two, and an expected-goals edge of 2.34 to 1.86. Reports framed this as an epic Roma comeback from 2-0 down; the shot count supports the idea that Roma carried the game territorially, while the chance quality says Napoli created the better openings. Both things can be true, and the gap between them is where Napoli's season currently sits.

This was not a simple collapse. Napoli led twice and were pegged back twice, the second equaliser arriving in the 89th minute. But it extends a run rather than interrupting one. The dropped points from a commanding position are the latest entry in a short but consistent ledger.

Against their own earlier 2026/27 averages, the drop-offs are stark. Napoli managed 39 per cent possession here against an average of 54.2; 108 passes in the opposition half against an average of 249.2; 21 touches in the opposition box against an average of 30.6; and two corners against an average of 5.8. Their goals minus expected goals was 0.66 here, against an average of 0.0. One match is one match, and the current-season record is far too short to call a trend — but the direction of travel across these measures is consistent with a side that is not controlling games the way it did earlier in the campaign.

The comparison with Napoli's strongest recent managerial era is unavoidable and uncomfortable. Under Maurizio Sarri in 2017/2018, Napoli took 2.39 points per game across a 38-match Serie A season, with 28 wins, seven draws and three defeats. Allegri's side is nowhere near that pace. Squad turnover is the obvious place to look: since the summer Napoli have added Benoît Badiashile, Vanja Milinković-Savić, Rasmus Højlund, Giovane Nascimento and Alisson Santos, while losing Romelu Lukaku, Giovanni Simeone, Lorenzo Lucca, Eljif Elmas, Walid Cheddira and Luis Hasa. That is a significant reshaping of the attacking and squad depth, and the balance of the Sarri-era side has not returned.

Absences matter too. Napoli were without Alisson Santos, David Neres, Costantino Favasuli and Alessandro Buongiorno, with Amir Rrahmani suffering flu symptoms. Kevin De Bruyne continued in a deeper playmaker role he is not fond of — a temporary fix or a structural problem is a question the next matches will answer. Roma had their own shortages: Lorenzo Pellegrini, Paulo Dybala, Manu Koné and Mile Svilar were missing, though Donyell Malen returned from suspension. Allegri was sent off during the match, and what that changed about the final phase is another open question.

Roma's unbeaten start keeps them in the title conversation, even with their injury list. Napoli's problem is narrower and more urgent: they are relying on players out of position and a thin squad, and the points are not coming. Whether this is a short sample or the shape of the season will be settled over the next month, not by one wild night in Naples.