Napoli Held by Bologna in Serie A Title Race Setback

Napoli missed the chance to significantly reduce the gap to Serie A leaders Inter Milan after being held to a 1-1 draw by fourth-placed Bologna on Monday night, April 7th. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s first-half opener was cancelled out by a spectacular back-heel flick from Bologna’s Dan Ndoye.

With leaders Inter Milan having drawn 2-2 at Parma on Saturday, Napoli knew a victory would cut the deficit to just one point. Anguissa put the visitors on course in the 18th minute, winning the ball on the halfway line before embarking on a powerful run past the Bologna defence and calmly finishing past goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.

Bologna lost Skorupski to injury shortly after, with replacement Federico Ravaglia making several important saves to keep his side in the game.

The equalizer arrived in stunning fashion four minutes after the hour mark. Ndoye received a pass inside the box, controlled it, and executed a brilliant back-heel flick that looped over Napoli’s reserve goalkeeper Simone Scuffet (starting due to Alex Meret’s illness), hit the underside of the crossbar, and bounced over the line.

Scuffet later made a crucial diving save in stoppage time to deny Bologna’s Emil Holm a potential winner.

The draw leaves Napoli second on 65 points, three behind Inter Milan (68 points). Bologna remain fourth with 57 points, one point behind third-placed Atalanta, missing the chance to leapfrog their rivals.

Napoli assistant manager Cristian Stellini, deputizing for the suspended Antonio Conte, lamented his side’s second-half performance. “It was a very good first half… After the break, we certainly lacked something, perhaps we focused more on defending than attacking,” he told DAZN.

Bologna manager Vincenzo Italiano expressed satisfaction with the point against strong opposition. “We’ll take the point and that fantastic performance,” he said. “A draw against one of the best teams in Serie A is still very good… we keep the run of positive results going.”