Defending Serie A champions Napoli’s quest for a top-four spot took a hit as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to mid-table Monza, who missed a second-half penalty, after the hosts ruined several chances in their Serie A clash on Friday, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
The visitors had the opportunity to grab the win from the spot following a handball by Juan Jesus but Matteo Pessina’s tame effort in the 68th minute was easily saved by Alex Meret.
The draw leaves Napoli in seventh place with 28 points, five points off the top four places, and 16 adrift of leaders Inter Milan. Monza are 11th on 22.
Fiorentina moved up to fourth after a goal by Luca Ranieri in the 83rd minute secured a 1-0 home win over Torino, Reuters reports.
“I am not worried by the table, my focus is on getting my lads to play well and today that is what they did,” Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri told DAZN.
“The only regret is that we failed to score a goal, but we deserved to win 2-0 or 3-0,” he added.
Napoli missed the finishing of the suspended Victor Osimhen who was sent off in their 2-0 loss at AS Roma last weekend. Napoli did not play too badly but without Osimhen it is no surprise they struggled to score.
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock shortly before halftime with a close-angle volley, but Monza’s Michele Di Gregorio made a superb reaction save.
Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia then struck a shot from just outside the box that missed the post by inches.
He had another chance early in the second half in a one-on-one with Di Gregorio, who saved the attempt with his legs.
At the end frustration boiled over for Mazzarri, leading to his dismissal following an altercation, while Monza coach Raffaele Palladino also received a red card in stoppage time for comments made to the referee.
“At one point, it looked like a game of rugby more than football,” Mazzarri said.
“I went over to the referee and told him that Kvara (Kvaratskhelia) was not allowed to play because he was systematically fouled. The rules have to be applied.”
Monza’s unused substitute, Mirko Maric, was shown a red card deep into stoppage time, seemingly for kicking a ball away.
Next, Napoli start the New Year with a visit to Torino on Jan. 7.
According to SuperSport, Leaders Inter Milan were also held to a draw at newly-promoted Genoa in one of two later games on Friday.
Such was the smoke from flares early in the first half in Genoa, that the referee was forced to halt the game for eight minutes before it cleared and play resumed.
Inter went on to open the scoring through Marko Arnautovic in the 42nd minute after he picked up on a parried Nicolo Barella strike for his first goal of the season.
Genoa drew level in the dying seconds of the opening period thanks to a powerful Radu Dragusin header from a corner.
The pick of Saturday’s action sees Juventus hosting Roma, who beat Napoli 2-0 last week.
Juve could move to within a point of Inter with a victory over Jose Mourinho’s team.
RESULTS ON FRIDAY:
Fiorentina 1 (Ranieri 83) Torino 0
Genoa 1 (Dragusin 45+7) Inter Milan 1 (Arnautovic 42)
Lazio 3 (Castellanos 70, Isaksen 72, Patric 84) Frosinone 1 (Soule 58-pen)
Napoli 0 Monza 0
