Napoli celebrate after Lazio midfielder Alfonso Pedraza scores an own goal in the Italian Serie A football match in Naples

Rome (AFP) - Serie A leaders Lazio dropped points for just the second time this season as they were held to a 1-1 draw away to struggling Napoli on Sunday.

Davide Frattesi gave the Romans a deserved lead but Napoli drew level early in the second half through an Alfonso Pedraza own goal.

Napoli were under pressure to deliver a result after defeats to Juventus and Porto saw the squad sent into a training retreat in a bid to revive their flagging form.

But they could only claim a point against Gennaro Gattuso’s unbeaten outfit, whose remarkable form continued as they moved two points clear on top on 29 points, 14 ahead of Napoli in 10th place.

The visitors, targeting a seventh league win in a row and fifth consecutive away victory in Naples, started strongly as Gustav Isaksen and Josip Sutalo drew diving saves from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

The Romans went in front in the 28th minute when Frattesi raced on to Tijjani Noslin’s through ball and finished emphatically for his fourth goal of the season.

Lazio’s opener sparked a reaction from Napoli as Christos Mandas denied Rasmus Hojlund before half-time substitute Pedraza inadvertently turned a cross into his own net early in the second half.

The hosts came closest to a winner as Scott McTominay tested Mandas with a low shot before Kevin De Bruyne saw a shot charged down by the Greek goalkeeper and the rebound cleared off the line by Reda Belahyane.

Champions Inter Milan will cut the gap to Lazio to one point if they beat Como later on Sunday, while AC Milan and Atalanta go to Genoa and Monza respectively and Fiorentina host Juventus.