Stalemate at the Maradona
Napoli and Udinese played out a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Maradona on Sunday evening. Scott McTominay opened the scoring with a header from a corner just past the half-hour mark. Udinese equalised before half time with a well-placed right-footed strike from Jurgen Ekkelenkamp.
Antonio Conte’s post-match analysis:
"Our difficulties stemmed from not taking our key chances. When we finally managed to break the deadlock, we let them equalise immediately. It's a shame because, overall, I think we deserved more.
"In the first half, we created plenty of opportunities in open play, but when you have chances, you have to take them. We then faded a bit in the second half. That said, a draw is a fair result against a very physical and well-organised Udinese side.
"We also did well to limit their counter-attacks, but again, drawing against a strong opponent is something we have to accept. The lads gave everything and came off the pitch exhausted. This is our ninth game unbeaten and believe me, we're achieving something special. We need to stay focused on our journey and focus only on ourselves."
Alex Meret’s thoughts after the match:
"It was an important game, and unfortunately, we couldn’t take all three points. But we move forward, focusing on our next match to keep progressing."
"We must keep our heads up and be aware of everything we've achieved so far. Today's draw is frustrating, but we played against a very strong, physical team. We need to focus on what we’ve built up to this point and keep working to improve."
Napoli 1-1 Udinese (1-1 HT)
Scorers: McTominay 37, Ekkelenkamp 40.
Napoli:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Mazzocchi; Anguissa (Raspadori 71), Lobotka (Gilmour 81), McTominay; Politano (Ngonge 70), Neres (Okafor 87), Lukaku (Simeone 71).
Coach: Conte.
Udinese (4-3-3):
Sava; Kristensen, Bijol, Solet (Ehizibue 81), Kamara; Atta (Bravo 80), Karlstrom, Lovric (Payero 70); Thauvin, Ekkelenkamp (Zarraga 86), Lucca.
Coach: Runjaic.
Referee: Marinelli (Tivoli).
Booked: Lucca.
