Still no Serie A 0-0: goalless draws vanishing act nears record territory

Serie A has gone five rounds without a single goalless draw this season, prompting a reader question to The Guardian's Knowledge: is this getting near a record?

Not quite — but it is notable. Within just over 30 years of Italian league data, this equals the longest wait for a goalless draw, matching the fifth-round arrival of the first 0-0 (between Napoli and Carpi) in the 2015-16 season.

The Premier League comparison is similarly modern: in 2023 the first goalless draw came in the fifth round of matches, on 17 September, when Bournemouth drew 0-0 with Chelsea.

The record waits

The longest top-flight wait came in just the second-ever Football League season, 1889-90, when the first goalless draw did not arrive until the 17th round of matches. That was only beaten in the 1894-95 second tier, where the first of only two goalless draws that season came on 23 March 1895 between Arsenal and Crewe Alexandra — the 25th match of the season for Crewe and the 26th for Arsenal.

That mark was equalled far more recently, in the Scottish third tier in 2013-14, which also had to wait until the 25th round for its first goalless draw, between Airdrie United and East Fife on 22 February 2014.