Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v Udinese - Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy - February 9, 2025 Napoli's Noah Okafor in action with Udinese's Kingsley Ehizibue REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
NAPLES, Italy (Reuters) -Napoli missed the chance to move a provisional six points clear atop Serie A after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Udinese on Sunday, their second successive stalemate.
Napoli, who had to settle for a 1-1 draw at AS Roma last week, now have 55 points, four clear of second-placed Inter Milan, who host Fiorentina on Monday. Udinese are 10th on 30.
In an eventful first half, both teams had chances to break the deadlock but Scott McTominay opened the scoring for Napoli in the 37th minute with a pinpoint header from close range following a corner by Matteo Politano.
It was the sixth league goal this season for the Scottish midfielder.
However, Udinese hit back three minutes later as Jurgen Ekkelenkamp equalised with a swerving long-range shot that deceived goalkeeper Alex Meret and flew into the bottom corner.
"I must say that the trajectory was very strange. It's a pity because we gave the ball away... Congratulations to Jurgen because he scored a great goal," Meret told DAZN.
"We don't think about Inter, we think match by match as always. Today was important. We didn't get the three points but the path is good and we have to look for victory against Lazio," the goalkeeper added about next week's fixture.
The visitors dominated the second half and came close to taking the lead when Sandi Lovric's effort from outside the area was saved by Meret.
They went close again when Lorenzo Lucca's right-foot shot from the left of the area was blocked following a pass from Jesper Karlstrom.
Antonio Conte's Napoli side struggled to find their rhythm, although forwards Romelu Lukaku and David Neres went close. They continued to push in the dying minutes but Udinese held out.
"I'm very happy for this point and for the boys. We suffered but to play well against Napoli means that they did their best," Udinese coach Kosta Runjaic said.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Ken Ferris and Toby Davis)
