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Serie A | Napoli 0-0 Monza: Meret scrapes a point

Originally posted on Football Italia | By Susy Campanale | Last updated 12/29/23

Alex Meret saved a dreadful Matteo Pessina penalty and then limped off injured, as Napoli scraped a disappointing draw with Monza.

The Partenopei were in crisis after three defeats in their last four Serie A games, with Victor Osimhen and Matteo Politano suspended after their red cards against Roma, plus Natan out for at least six weeks with a dislocated clavicle and Mathias Olivera injured, but Stanislav Lobotka recovered from bruised ribs to start. Monza had Pablo Mari and Papu Gomez banned, plus Armando Izzo, Andrea Carboni and Gianluca Caprari out of action, so Roberto Gagliardini became a makeshift centre-back.

The crowd became increasingly irritable as the first half wore on, jeering during long periods of Monza possession and the deflected Pedro Pereira effort that went wide.

Napoli finally created a scoring opportunity on 40 minutes with the Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa volley from eight yards, denied by a desperate Michele Di Gregorio reaction save, then Giovanni Di Lorenzo ballooned the rebound over the bar.

Kvicha Kvaratskhelia cut inside from the left and curled right-footed just wide of the far post.

After the restart, Amir Rrahmani was allowed a free header on a set play only to turn it over the bar, while Giacomo Raspadori was irritated that nobody had made the run to meet his cross-shot.

Raspadori sent Kvaratskhelia clear only for the Georgian to hesitate and prod the finish straight at Di Gregorio one-on-one.

Monza attacked in a flurry with Dany Mota Carvalho forcing Meret to parry with his legs at the near post, and as the move continued Andrea Colpani’s shot hit Mario Rui’s arm from point-blank range. The referee awarded a penalty, but Matteo Pessina’s effort was so weak and central that Meret barely had to move in order to smother it.

Kvaratskhelia and Zerbin again blasted off target from promising positions, while Meret limped off with a muscular problem. As Pierluigi Gollini also absent due to an ankle injury, Nikita Contini had a rare appearance.

Walter Mazzarri was sent off for rushing onto the pitch to break up a row between Warren Bondo and Kvaratskhelia, going well beyond the limits of his technical area.

Napoli continued to let Monza off the hook with weak finishing, Gianluca Gaetano straight at Di Gregorio in stoppages. Visiting coach Raffaele Palladino was also sent off, this time for dissent.

Napoli 0-0 Monza

Saved penalty: Pessina 68 (M)

29-12-2023 17:30 MatchDay 18 Stadio Diego Armando Maradona

Napoli

Monza 0 - 0

Player statistic

1st half

32'

Pedro Pereira

2nd half

	50'	Samuele Birindelli
Juan Jesus	66'
Giovanni Di Lorenzo	67'
	68'

Matteo Pessina 79' Giorgio Cittadini Gianluca Gaetano 80' Khvicha Kvaratskhelia 82' 82'

Warren Bondo 90+5'

Mirko Maric

Match statistic

58 Possession % 42 25 Total shots 8 9 Shots on target 3 10 Shots off target 2 6 Blocked shots 3 10 Corners 1 Offsides 2 10 Fouls 21 Napoli Monza

Starting lineups

Alex Meret Goalkeeper 74' 13

Amir Rrahmani Defender 22

Giovanni Di Lorenzo Defender 5

Juan Jesus Defender 6

Mário Rui Defender 99

Frank Anguissa Midfielder 20

Piotr Zielinski Midfielder 71' 68

Stanislav Lobotka Midfielder 85' 23 Alessio Zerbin Attacker 71' 81

Giacomo Raspadori Attacker 77

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Attacker 16 Michele Di Gregorio Goalkeeper 33

Danilo D’Ambrosio Defender 76' 5

Luca Caldirola Defender 8

Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro Midfielder 62' 32

Matteo Pessina Midfielder 13

Pedro Pereira Midfielder 46' 6

Roberto Gagliardini Midfielder 21 Valentín Carboni Midfielder 57' 47 Dany Mota Attacker 9 Lorenzo Colombo Attacker

76' 84 Patrick Ciurria Attacker

Substitutes

Leo Östigard Defender 16 Hubert Idasiak Goalkeeper 59 Alessandro Zanoli Defender 95

Pierluigi Gollini Goalkeeper 24

Jens Cajuste Midfielder 50 Luigi D’Avino Defender 70

Gianluca Gaetano Midfielder 71' 29

Jesper Lindström Midfielder 71' 14 Nikita Contini Goalkeeper 74' 18

Giovanni Simeone Attacker 85' 77

Georgios Kyriakopoulos Defender 11 Franco Carboni Defender 24 Mirko Maric Attacker 2

Giulio Donati Defender 1 Eugenio Lamanna Goalkeeper 80 Samuele Vignato Midfielder 66 Stefano Gori Goalkeeper 23 Alessandro Sorrentino Goalkeeper 19 Samuele Birindelli Defender 46' 28

Andrea Colpani Midfielder 57' 38

Warren Bondo Midfielder 62' 46 Giorgio Cittadini Defender 76' 7

José Machín Midfielder

76'

This article first appeared on Football Italia and was syndicated with permission.

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