Success strikes late as Udinese hold Napoli
Udine, Italy - Napoli were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Udinese in Serie A on Monday after a stoppage-time goal by forward Isaac Success cancelled out a Victor Osimhen header.
Napoli, now winless in four games, moved up to eighth on 51 points from 35 games and are nine points behind both fifthplaced Atalanta and AS Roma, in sixth.
Last year’s champions have only managed one victory in their last eight Serie A games.
After a first half to forget, in which none of the teams managed a shot on target, Osimhen nodded home to give Napoli the lead in the 51st minute.
Matteo Politano sent a lofted cross from the right into the middle of the box and the Nigerian striker headed the ball in off the left post for his 15th league goal of the season.
He was then close to adding a second when Stanislav Lobotka fed him a neat low pass into the box but Udinese keeper Maduka Okoye was a step quicker to the ball.
Osimhen thought he eventually doubled the advantage in the 80th minute but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Udinese, led by new coach Fabio Cannavaro who was ap
We have to ask the management about the future of Napoli, it’s clear that we have the qualities to do better.
FRANCESCO CALZONA
pointed two weeks ago, were under pressure for most of the game and only crafted two shots on goal.
This, however, turned out to be enough to rescue a point as Success bundled in the leveller in stoppage time, netting from a Thomas Kristensen header.
Udinese only picked up two points across their previous 15 Serie A matches against last year’s champions Napoli.
They remained 18th in the standings with 30 points and are two points away from the safety zone.
Though Napoli extended their winless Serie A streak to four games, coach Francesco Calzona was optimistic.
“Clearly I thought we could do better, without a doubt. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” Calzona told DAZN.
“We have to ask the management about the future of Napoli, it’s clear that we have the qualities to do better. It was a disappointing and unfortunate year, but we absolutely must finish this championship on a high note.”
This may be challenging as Napoli sit eighth on 51 points after 35 games, with nine points separating them from both fifthplaced Atalanta and AS Roma, in sixth.
They had earned 50 points halfway through their winning 2022-23 campaign.