01/14/26 01:44:00
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01/14 13:42 CST Napoli's title hopes in Serie A take a hit with a 0-0 draw
against Parma
Napoli's title hopes in Serie A take a hit with a 0-0 draw against Parma
By DANIELLA MATAR
AP Sports Writer
MILAN (AP) --- A frustrating evening for Napoli saw it held to a 0-0 draw at
home by lowly Parma as the defending champion potentially lost more ground in
the title race Wednesday.
The result left Napoli three points behind Serie A leader Inter Milan, which
was playing against relegation-threatened Lecce later.
Parma, which had lost only one of its past four matches, continued to climb
away from danger --- moving to eight points above the relegation zone.
Napoli had drawn its past two matches 2-2, including Sunday's title showdown
against Inter Milan --- allowing it to be caught in third place by Roma and
Juventus.
Antonio Conte had been sent off at San Siro and began his two-match touchline
ban on Wednesday.
Napoli thought it had taken an early lead against Parma but Scott McTominay's
strike was ruled out on video review as teammate Pasquale Mazzocchi was
fractionally offside in the build-up.
Parma goalkeeper Filippo Rinaldi was making his senior debut and he pulled off
a sensational save in the 27th minute to parry a bullet header from Alessandro
Buongiorno at point-blank range.
Rinaldi made a number of other saves as a resolute Parma defense managed to
fend off a fierce Napoli assault.
The 23-year-old Rinaldi was named player of the match.
One of the few positive notes for Napoli was the appearance of David Neres as a
second-half substitute after he missed the past couple of matches with an ankle
sprain. However, the Brazilian was clearly not fully fit and was taken off
shortly before fulltime.
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