Milan, Paris: Inter Milan ended Napoli’s winning streak in Serie A with a goalless draw in Saturday’s top of the table clash.

Napoli have 25 points from nine games to hold their two-point advantage on second-placed Inter.

Champions Juventus and Lazio — joint third on 19 points — now have a golden opportunity to narrow the gap on Sunday when they take on Udinese and Cagliari respectively.

Napoli had been on a winning streak in 13 Serie A games going back to last season.

But they came up against a stubborn Inter, chasing a first win in Naples in 20 years, and who underlined their title credentials in front of 50,000 spectators at the San Paolo Stadium.

Both teams had their goalkeepers to thank for the stalemate with Inter’s Samir Handanovic and Napoli’s Pepe Reina pulling off some fine saves.

Napoli had more possession in the first half but little to show for their efforts as Handanovic kept out a quickfire double from Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens.

Reina also pulled of some dramatic saves denying Mauro Icardi and Borja Valero just before the break. Just on half-time Callejon went into a sliding tackle and doubled up in pain but was able to walk off the pitch.

Napoli ran out of steam in the second half showing signs of fatigue after their Champions League defeat at Manchester City on Tuesday.

Inter with no European commitments looked fresher but Napoli nevertheless had the two best chances to break the deadlock with Piotr Zielinski’s long range volley on 84 minutes and Mertens six minutes later cleared by Handanovic.

Earlier Sampdoria crushed struggling Crotone with a five-goal blitz to move fifth.

The Genoa club, who have a game in hand, were three goals up by half-time with Gianmarco Ferrari heading in after three minutes against his former club. Fabio Quagliarella converted a penalty on 11 minutes after Arlind Ajeti dragged down Duvan Zapata, with Gianluca Caprari tapping in a third before the break.

Keita Balde netted his first goal since his big-money summer move to Monaco as the reigning French champions eased to a welcome 2-0 victory at home to Caen in Ligue 1.

Balde got the opener midway through the first half and the prolific Radamel Falcao added a penalty just before the hour mark as Monaco recorded a first win in five outings in all competitions.

The principality side, beaten 2-1 at home by Besiktas in the Champions League in midweek, are second in the Ligue 1 table, three points behind Paris Saint-Germain before the leaders go to bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday.

They are also two points clear of Nantes, who marked veteran coach Claudio Ranieri’s 66th birthday with a late 2-1 victory at home to Guingamp to move up to third.

“Against Besiktas we didn’t play badly, but our opponents were more clinical,” said Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim.

“We worked hard and it was the same today. Of course, Caen are not Besiktas. We won well.”