Roma held 0-0 by Sampdoria, Parma suffer fifth consecutive defeat

Milan: Roma were held to a goalless draw at still-unbeaten Sampdoria as they missed the opportunity to move provisionally top of the Serie A table on Saturday.

It was a case of second against third at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris but Roma were still reeling from Tuesday's 7-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Roma went closest with Gervinho hitting the post on the half-hour mark and Alessandro Florenzi forcing a remarkable save from Sampdoria goalkeeper Sergio Romero late on.

"It was a good game between two teams which play a lovely style of football," Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic said. "My lads were very good, today we took step up in quality, showing that we can take on anyone, especially at home."

Sampdoria did have the ball in the back of the net but Manolo Gabbiadini's strike was ruled out for offside. Roma youth product Stefano Okaka also missed a good opportunity for Sampdoria as he blasted over from about three yards out.

Roma moved level with three-time defending champions Juventus, who host Palermo on Sunday.

Earlier, Sassuolo won 3-1 at Parma and Cagliari thrashed newly-promoted Empoli 4-0, with all the goals coming in the first half.

It was the first win of the season for Sassuolo, who drew with Juventus last week, and left Parma rooted to the foot of the Serie A table after five consecutive defeats.

"Is something broken? That's a given," Parma coach Roberto Donadoni said. "We've lost seven times, there's little to make us happy. We can't do more than work hard; we have to come out of this somehow."

Sergio Floccari headed Sassuolo in front in the 20th minute before Francesco Acerbi doubled his side's advantage with his first goal for the club.

The 26-year-old defender recently spent almost a year on the sidelines as he beat testicular cancer.

Saphir Taider, who had earlier hit the post, sealed the match early in the second half before Antonio Cassano scored a consolation for Parma.

Marco Sau broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark with Cagliari's first real opportunity and Danilo Avelar all but secured the win with two goals in as many minutes.

Avelar curled a fantastic free kick into the top corner before scoring a penalty moments later after Mirko Valdifiori fouled Albin Ekdal.

Ekdal got on the scoresheet himself with the last kick of the first half, firing in from a tight angle after forcing his way past three Empoli players.