Roma and AC Milan played out a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico, where Rossoneri manager Sinisa Mihajlovic was sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle across the technical area.
The spotlight was on both coaches following recent inconsistent form which has seen their teams fail to mount a serious Scudetto challenge.
Defeat for either would have increased speculation of a managerial change, but the shared point will do little to ease the continued pressure.
Roma had taken an early lead when defender Antonio Rudiger converted a deep free-kick at the far post.
Milan, though, slowly grew to take control of the match, and were level at the start of the second half through Juraj Kucka.
After seeing the Slovak midfielder blaze over from 12 yards, Mihajlovic kicked out at the bottle in frustration before the officials intervened.
Milan went on to create enough late chances to have left the capital with a win, and while Rudi Garcia's men held out, they walked off the pitch to a chorus of boos from home supporters who are furious with a run of only one win in the last 10 competitive games.
It was, though, a lightning start for the home side as they almost took the lead inside the opening 20 seconds.
Umar Sadiq, the in-form 18-year-old Nigerian preferred in attack to Egypt international Mohamed Salah, barged clear and forced AC Milan's own teenager Gianluigi Donnarumma into a smart save.
There was, however, little the 16-year-old goalkeeper could do to prevent Roma taking the lead in the fourth minute when Rudiger swept the ball in at the far post after Miralem Pjanic's free-kick was floated in from the right. It was the on-loan Stuttgart defender's first goal for Roma.
But for the reflexes of the teenager, Milan would have soon been further behind. Rudiger met a corner with a diving header at the near post, which Donnarumma pushed up onto the woodwork from point-blank range.
Slowly Milan - who on Wednesday had lost 1-0 at home to Bologna - worked their way back into the match as Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, on loan from Arsenal, was out quickly to narrow the angle for Carlos Bacca as the Colombian forward shot wide following a swift counter.
The Rossoneri's momentum continued following the restart, and they equalised five minutes into the second period.
Keisuke Honda clipped a high ball in from the right and Kucka got up at the back post to send at looping header into the net.
Milan should have gone ahead when substitute Kevin-Prince Boateng, making a return in Milan colours after two-and-a-half years at Schalke, broke down the right and cut the ball back to the penalty spot where Kucka sent his first-time shot over the crossbar.
It was all proving too much for Rossoneri manager Mihajlovic, whose fit of temper meant he had to watch the closing stages from the stands.
Milan were soon inches away from taking the lead just after the hour mark when Bacca beat the offside trap before cutting back inside and clipping the ball over Szczesny, but it fell on to the top of the crossbar.
With 20 minutes left, Sadiq was replaced by veteran Francesco Totti, who made his first appearance since late September following a thigh injury.
Bacca headed over from a corner, before at the other end Roma midfielder Alessandro Florenzi dragged a 20-yard effort wide.