Inter and Napoli march on as Roma stall at Como

Serie A's contenders did what contenders do this weekend: Inter beat Parma 3-0 and Napoli beat Frosinone 3-0, matching scorelines that keep the pressure exactly where it was at the top of the table.

There is a ruthlessness to results like these. No late drama, no nervous final ten minutes, just three goals and three points, and on to the next one. When two sides are locked together at the top, the race often comes down to who handles the routine fixtures most reliably, and both sent the same message this weekend.

Inter's win over Parma was the more accomplished of the two. Three unanswered goals, control from start to finish, and the growing sense that this side knows precisely what it is. Home fixtures against promoted opposition can be traps. Inter treated it like a formality, which is exactly what champions-elect do.

Napoli matched them stride for stride. Frosinone were dispatched with the same 3-0 scoreline, and the symmetry is fitting for a race that has refused to separate. Neither side is blinking. The head-to-head fixtures between them later in the season are starting to feel like they might decide everything.

The interesting results were elsewhere. Roma were held 0-0 at Como, a ground that is proving nobody's easy afternoon. Como have made their home a fortress of frustration this season, and Roma became the latest title-adjacent side to leave with only a point. For a club with Roma's ambitions, goalless draws at promoted sides are the kind of afternoons that accumulate into regret.

Roma created chances but could not finish them, and the familiar questions about their cutting edge away from the capital will resurface. The table does not lie about dropped points, and two lost at Como look significant in a season this tight.

Milan needed more than a point at Sassuolo and got exactly one, a 1-1 that feels like two dropped rather than one gained. Sassuolo have made a habit of inconveniencing the league's giants on their own ground, and Milan's afternoon followed a familiar pattern: take the lead or chase it, dominate spells of the game, leave with a result that satisfies nobody.

The gap between the two sides marching at the top and the pack trying to keep pace is starting to feel like the story of this Serie A season. Inter and Napoli keep winning the fixtures they should win. Roma and Milan keep finding ways not to.

Lazio beat Monza 3-1 in Rome, a comfortable afternoon that keeps them best of the rest behind the top two. Bologna won 2-1 at Lecce, an impressive away result from a side whose European ambitions are entirely credible on current form. And Genoa edged Fiorentina 2-1 in the round's tightest finish, a result that deepens the sense Fiorentina's season is drifting.

So the weekend ends with the top two inseparable and the chasing pack a step further back. Serie A loves a title race decided by the head-to-head, and right now the calendar cannot get Inter and Napoli in the same stadium quickly enough.