Juve’s lead reduced to six points after draw with Napoli Donnarumma mistake helps Pescara draw 1-1 against AC Milan
Juventus saw their lead reduced to six points over Roma yesterday after being held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli yesterday.
Sami Khedira gave Juventus a half-time lead but Napoli hit back in the second period to equalise through Hamsik.
Juventus now have 74 points, while Roma remain second on 68 points. Napoli are third on 64 points when eight matches remain to be played.
But the San Paolo crowd only had eyes for Gonzalo Higuain.
This was not only third against first and a long-standing grudge match, but also the first time Higuain returned to the Stadio San Paolo since forcing through his €90m transfer to their hated Turin rivals.
His every touch was greeted with jeers and noise from the thousands of whistles handed out in the stadium. Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado were not fully fit after international duty, but Mario Mandzukic started despite a knee inflammation. The hosts lost Pepe Reina to a calf strain, so Rafael got only his first appearance of the season – the other was a 3-1 Coppa Italia win over Spezia in January.
Juve had won just one of their last nine Serie A visits to Naples, 3-1 in January 2015, along with two draws and six defeats. Napoli had lost three competitive meetings on the bounce to the Bianconeri, though they were all in Turin.
It took just seven minutes to break the deadlock, as Sami Khedira completed a give-and-go with Miralem Pjanic to burst into the box and placed his finish past an ineffective Rafael.
Napoli tried hard to get back on level terms. Mertens chested down a cross for Marek Hamsik to hit wide from the edge of the box, then Giorgio Chiellini’s headed away before Callejon could connect with a chipped Insigne pass.
Insigne and Mertens both had shots blocked and before the whistle blew, Insigne skipped through four defenders with the ball glued to his foot, only for the curling finish to go wide of the far post.
Napoli insisted at the start of the second half and Insigne again went close to an equaliser in the 51st minute. Then a Callejon goal was annulled for an offside infringement.
The home side was rewarded with an equaliser in the 60th minute when Mertens set Hamsik who beat Buffon with a fine volley.
Soon after, it was Mertens who made the most of a bad backpass to Buffon, but after rounding the goalie, he hit the base of the upright from a very difficult angle with the ball rebounding into the grateful hands of Buffon.
MILAN HELD BY PESCARA
Even the best players make mistakes.
Teenage goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has been earning plaudits - and points - for AC Milan with fantastic performances this season. Not yesterday when he committed an early error to gift Pescara the opening goal in a 1-1 draw in Serie A.
Gabriel Paletta’s back pass seemed innocuous enough but it bounced over Donnarumma’s foot and into the back of the net in the 12th minute. It went down as the Milan defender’s own goal but exposed Donnarumma’s weakness with his feet.
The 18-year-old ‘keeper had recovered from his error when he batted away a cross off the head of Jean-Cristophe Bahebeck at full stretch on the half-hour.
Milan levelled four minutes from the break. Gerard Deulofeu went on a rapid counterattack and his effort was parried by Pescara goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo. After a couple of deflections the ball fell to Mario Pasalic, who equalised with an impressive swivelling volley.
The visitors almost snatched all three points but Alessio Romagnoli’s header came off the post.
Milan remained seventh, one point off Inter Milan and the last qualifying spot for the Europa League. Inter hosts Sampdoria today and the two Milan teams face off in the derby on 15 April.
Palermo-Cagliari ............................ 1-3 Gonzalez (P) 26, Ionita (C) 48, 89, Borriello (C) 58 Pescara-AC Milan ........................... 1-1 Paletta (P) og 12, Pasalic (M) 41 Napoli-Juventus ............................. 1-1 Khedira (J) 7, Hamsik (N) 60 Today Inter-Sampdoria ....................................
Standings
Juventus Roma Napoli Lazio Atalanta Inter Milan AC Milan Fiorentina Torino Sampdoria Chievo Udinese Cagliari Bologna Sassuolo Genoa Empoli Crotone Palermo Pescara
Lega Pro B P W D L F A Pts 30 24 2 4 60 20 74 30 22 2 6 66 26 68 30 19 7 4 69 33 64 30 18 6 6 52 31 60 30 18 4 8 51 33 58 29 17 4 8 55 31 55 30 16 6 8 43 33 54 30 14 9 7 47 37 51 30 10 11 9 56 50 41 29 11 8 10 35 34 41 30 11 5 14 35 43 38 30 10 7 13 38 40 37 30 10 5 15 39 59 35 30 9 7 14 29 43 34 30 9 4 17 37 48 31 30 7 8 15 30 48 29 30 5 7 18 17 48 22 30 4 5 21 23 50 17 30 3 6 21 25 63 15 30 2 7 21 30 67 13
Yesterday Bassano-AlbinoLeffe ........................ 0-0 Fano-Mantova ................................. 1-1 FeralpiSalo-Padova .......................... 2-1 Lumezzane-Ancona ......................... 2-1 Santarcangelo-Gubbio ..................... 1-0 Sudtirol-Venezia .............................. 0-2 Parma-Maceratese .......................... 2-0
Lega Pro C
Yesterday Akragas-Siracusa .............................. 1-0 Catanzaro-Catania ........................... 2-1 Fondi-Matera ................................... 1-1 Juve Stabia-Casertana ..................... 2-2 Vibonese-Monopoli ......................... 2-2 Virtus Francavilla-Taranto ................ 2-2 Cosenza-Lecce ................................. 0-0 Foggia-Paganese .............................. 3-1
GERMANY