Scott McTominay managed to secure a point for Napoli, but their Scudetto ambitions have been hampered after Gabriel Strefezza put Parma ahead within 33 seconds of the match.
Napoli, who had recently climbed to second place with a victory over Milan, were aiming for their sixth consecutive Serie A win. While Rasmus Hojlund returned to the lineup after a stomach bug, several key players, including David Neres, Antonio Vergara, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, and Romelu Lukaku, remained unavailable. Parma, on the other hand, had only managed three draws in their last five league outings and were without their top scorer Mateo Pellegrino, as well as Benja Cremaschi and Matija Frigan.
The deadlock was broken extraordinarily quickly, in just 33 seconds. In his first start for Parma, Nesta Elphege flicked on a long ball from Zion Suzuki, enabling Gabriel Strefezza to break into the box and find the far post with a precise finish using the inside of his right boot.
Despite significant pressure from Napoli, Antonio Conte’s side struggled to create clear-cut chances. Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa headed wide, and a foul by Hojlund occurred in the build-up. Parma’s goalkeeper, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, was forced to come out into midfield to clear a potential threat from Enrico Delprato.
Just before halftime, a corner from Kevin De Bruyne was flicked on towards Hojlund, but Delprato was well-positioned to clear the ball off the line.
Napoli made a defensive change at halftime, bringing on Sam Beukema to replace Juan Jesus, who had been struggling to contain Strefezza.
In the second half, Matteo Politano fired over the bar from the edge of the area, and a substitute, Alisson Santos, shot so wide that it resulted in a throw-in for the opposition.
Napoli finally found their equalizer with one of their few shots on target. Stanislav Lobotka’s incisive through ball was laid off by Hojlund to McTominay, who drilled the ball home from the edge of the box.
Napoli continued to push forward, with Suzuki behind an Alisson Santos low drive, and a Politano cross flashing across the goal without anyone to tap it in. Suzuki also had to be alert to an acrobatic overhead kick from McTominay following a corner. Parma also posed a threat, with a ball flashed across the six-yard box that narrowly missed two sliding attackers.
Alisson Santos came close to scoring from a tight angle, and Parma appealed for a handball, but the referee deemed Alessandro Buongiorno’s arm position to be natural after Leonardo Spinazzola’s point-blank kick struck it.
Milinkovic-Savic was forced to tip a powerful shot from Mandela Keita over the bar. Eljif Elmas missed a golden opportunity with a free header over the bar from a Miguel Gutierrez cross.
Alisson Santos tested Suzuki again in stoppage time, but Parma managed to hold Napoli to a draw for the third consecutive game, a result that could prove costly in the Scudetto race.
Parma 1-1 Napoli
Strefezza 1′ (P), McTominay 60′ (N)
