Roma were unable to over-take Juventus at the top of the Serie A after playing to a goalless draw against Cagliari in a league match at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday night.
The result leaves Roma in second place on the table with 33 points from their 15 league games while Juventus sit on 34 points.
The opening 45 minutes was a half dominated by the home side, but for all their possession Roma couldn’t find the back of the net.
Roma’s build-up play was superb, but their finishing in front of goal lacked something to be desired.
Gervinho made his presence felt early on for the Cagliari defence as he breezed past his markers in the fourth minute before being brilliantly denied in a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Vlada Avramov.
A minute later and Maicon came bitterly close to opening the scoring when he saw his shot from a tight angle brush the wrong side of the post.
In the 13th minute a poor clearance from the Cagliari defence fell into the path of Alessandro Florenzi, but he fired his shot from inside the box just over the crossbar.
Roma were at it again a minute before the half hour mark when Miralem Pjanic drilled a powerful shot narrowly wide of the target.
Cagliari did manage to create one chance in the 32nd minute when Víctor Ibarbo met a left wing cross, but he saw his header well-saved by Morgan De Sanctis.
Roma, though, had the final say of the half as Kevin Strootman wasted another chance in the 38th minute after being put through on goal by Daniel De Rossi, but he shot straight at the keeper.
The start of the second 45 saw Roma continue where they left off as Florenzi saw his stinging volley from the edge of the box brilliantly saved by Avramov three minutes after the restart.
Roma continued to push forward after that, but were unable to break down a stubborn Cagliari defence as they were content to park the bus.
The 0-0 result sees Roma unable to re-take the lead at the top of the Serie A table as they trail Juventus by one point.
