Wasteful Napoli held to 1-1 draw by Sassuolo
Napoli was again made to count the cost of missed opportunities as it was held 1-1 by Sassuolo in Serie A yesterday.
Lorenzo Insigne fired the hosts in front three minutes from the break, cutting inside and curling in under the crossbar. The ball went in with the aid of a slight deflection off former Napoli defender Paolo Cannavaro - who had been given a warm welcome by the Partenopei fans at the start of the match.
It was Insigne's third goal in two matches.
Napoli again failed to close out the match, wasting several chances to do so, and paid the price when substitute Gregoire Defrel powerfully volleyed home Marcello Gazzola’s cross to equalise eight minutes from time.
The home side almost snatched a late win but Jose Callejon hit the right post in stoppage time.
Sassuolo had also hit the woodwork, with Simone Missiroli’s header coming off the crossbar shortly after the hour.
Napoli remained seventh, four points behind second-placed Roma and AC Milan, and eight points behind league leader Juventus. Sassuolo was 16th. Inter Milan continued with their recovery under coach Stefano Pioli when they beat Fiorentina 4-2.
Inter had a fiery start to the match and were already 3-0 ahead inside the opening 20 minutes.
Brozovic paved the way with a goal after just three minutes. Candreva made it 2-0 six minutes later and Icardi scored the third in the 19th minute.
Inter missed other chances before Kalinic pulled one back for Fiorentina in the 37th minute.
Fiorentina had Rodriguez sent off for an elbowing incident before the end of the first half.
But they were still good enough to reduce further the gap through Ilicic in the 62nd minute.
Inter, however, remained in command and added a fourth goal through Icardi in added time.
Inter are now eighth in the standings on 21 points. Fiorentina, who together with Genoa have played a match less, are ninth on 20.
Results
Italy Serie A: Napoli-Sassuolo 1-1; Inter Milan-Fiorentina 4-2 England Championship: HuddersfieldWigan1-2 Italy Serie B: Salernitana-Pro Vercelli 1-1 Italy Lega Pro B: Venezia-Padova 1-3 Spain La Liga: Las Palmas-Ath. Bilbao 3-1
Standings