Napoli miss chance to extend Serie A lead with Udinese stalemate

Scott McTominay put the hosts ahead in the first half at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, but Jurgen Ekkelenkamp equalised shortly afterwards and Napoli could not find a winner. "We must not confuse reality with what we are doing now, which is truly extraordinary. Trust me, it's extraordinary," coach Conte told DAZN when asked about his team's bid for a second title in three seasons.

"The lads left the field drained tonight, they gave everything to get the victory. It was our ninth game unbeaten, so trust me from the heart when I say this is extraordinary." Napoli were given the opportunity to stretch their advantage at the top of the table by Inter's 3-0 loss at Fiorentina in midweek -- a game which was originally stopped in December after home midfielder Edoardo Bove suffered a heart attack.

Reigning champions Inter could cut the gap back to three points when they host Fiorentina on Monday. Atalanta are also still in the hunt for their first-ever Scudetto, sitting just five points behind Napoli after their 5-0 thrashing of Verona on Saturday.

Napoli struggled to break down their opponents for much of the first half, with Lorenzo Lucca firing an early chance just wide for Udinese. But the Serie A pace-setters broke the deadlock in the 37th minute as McTominay climbed highest to head Matteo Politano's corner into the net for his sixth league goal of the season.

Udinese hit back just three minutes later, though, as Napoli gave away possession in their own half and Dutch midfielder Ekkelenkamp fired a dipping strike into the bottom corner from long range.

Napoli dominated for long periods in the second half but failed to create many clear-cut opportunities and dropped points for a second consecutive weekend after a 1-1 draw at Roma last time out.

 

February 9, 2025