Napoli squandered an opportunity to extend their lead at the top of Serie A as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Udinese on Sunday. Antonio Conte’s side could have moved six points clear of second-placed Inter Milan, who suffered a 3-0 defeat to Fiorentina in midweek.
Scott McTominay opened the scoring for Napoli in the 37th minute, heading in Matteo Politano’s corner for his sixth league goal of the season. However, Udinese responded swiftly, with Jurgen Ekkelenkamp capitalising on a Napoli error to fire home from long-range just three minutes later.
Despite dominating possession in the second half, Napoli failed to break down Udinese’s defence, dropping points for the second consecutive weekend following their 1-1 draw against Roma.
Inter Milan will have the chance to close the gap to three points when they host Fiorentina on Monday, while Atalanta remain in contention for their first-ever Serie A title after thrashing Verona 5-0 on Saturday to move within five points of the leaders.
Elsewhere, Lazio stormed back into the top four with a commanding 5-1 victory over bottom-placed Monza. Adam Marusic’s first-half header set the hosts on their way before Lazio ran riot after the break. Pedro netted twice, Taty Castellanos added another, and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru sealed the win after Stefano Sensi had briefly reduced the deficit with an 86th-minute penalty.
Following the defeat, Italian media reported that Monza had dismissed coach Salvatore Bocchetti, with club legend Alessandro Nesta tipped to take over.
Roma secured a hard-fought 1-0 win against relegation-threatened Venezia, with Paulo Dybala’s 57th-minute penalty proving decisive. Coach Claudio Ranieri revealed post-match that he was reluctant to field Dybala due to fitness concerns, but the Argentine insisted on playing.
Bologna’s top-four hopes suffered a setback as they were held to a goalless draw at Lecce, marking their 11th stalemate of the season and leaving them seven points adrift of Lazio.
Florinel Coman made an instant impact on his Serie A debut, scoring a stunning long-range strike in Cagliari’s 2-1 win over struggling Parma. An own goal from Alessandro Vogliacco put the hosts ahead before Coman doubled the advantage. Giovanni Leoni pulled one back for Parma, but they remain third from bottom, while Cagliari moved up to 13th, four points clear of the relegation zone.
