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A last-minute equalizer scored by Stephan El Shaarawy gave Jose Mourinho's AS Roma a crucial point away at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and it likely ended the scudetto dreams for Napoli. In the first half, future Toronto FC player Lorenzo Insigne opened the scoresheet by firing a penalty past Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio, but it wasn't enough to keep the title chase pace with Inter Milan and AC Milan winning their respective games on Friday. 

At the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the home team was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw as Mourinho's Roma squad makes a late-season case for the fourth and final Champions League spot. Napoli are now four points behind AC Milan with only five games to play and two points behind Inter Milan, who still have one game in hand to play. We're in for an amazing and unpredictable end-of-season stretch as the next few games will help determine what has been the most exciting scudetto race of the last decade with three teams involved until the very end -- even if Napoli are now behind. Monday's draw was tense the chances were few and far between for both sides. 

Can Napoli get back in the race?

Napoli's last scudetto came during the 1989-90 season when Diego Armando Maradona was the star of the club and the city. And for that reason, the fans are patiently waiting for a return to glory and Monday's result against AS Roma made this dream even more difficult to come to fruition this season.  

Luciano Spalletti's Napoli have no choice but to play catch-up after dropping points on Monday, with a pivotal weekend ahead with a date away to Empoli as league leaders AC Milan face Lazio and Inter Milan host Roma. They desperately need to win the next fixture and hope that both AC Milan and Inter Milan drop points considering the difficulty of their upcoming weekend fixture. It's a prime opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing draw and make up for lost ground.

Mourinho failed to get closer

While the draw is overall a positive result for Mourinho considering the opposition and the way the equalizer was scored, this result doesn't change much AS Roma's chances to finish in the top four. Juventus drew against Bologna on Saturday and this could have been an opportunity to gain some points. At the end, the draw is still a solid result as they sit in fifth place, just five points back of Juve. 

Pre-match, Mourinho said the goal should be to finish fifth and they seem to be right on track even if next weekend's match against Inter Milan will be once again fundamental for their end of the season. AS Roma are in an extremely positive streak and haven't lost a single Serie A match since Jan. 9 against Juventus. Mourinho wants to make this end of the season even more exciting for the fans with AS Roma as they are the last Italian team participating in an European competition. The Giallorossi will play the Conference League semifinals with the Special One who has the ultimate goal of bringing back a trophy to the club to end a 14-year drought. You can catch all the Conference League action on Paramount+.