Serie A 2025-26: Napoli loses 1-0 to Udinese, misses chance to go top

Napoli missed the chance to go to the top of Serie A in the 2025/26 season after a 1-0 defeat to Udinese on Sunday.

The visitor had a chance to take the top spot after AC Milan earlier drew 2-2 at home to Sassuolo, but Napoli struggled against aggressive Udinese, who had two goals disallowed.

Napoli are second with 31 points, one point behind Milan and one point ahead of third-placed Inter Milan, who play Genoa later on Sunday. Udinese are 10th with 21 points.

After a largely uneventful first half, Keinan Davis thought he had put Udinese ahead minutes into the second period after bunking home a rebound, but the celebrations were short-lived as VAR showed he was offside.

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With the pressure mounting, it seemed only a matter of time before the breakthrough would come. In the 69th minute, Udinese’s Nicolo Zaniolo slid through on goal, raced to the edge of the penalty area and fired a low shot into the net.

However, the referee disallowed the goal due to a foul in the build-up, which sparked angry protests from the home fans.

Four minutes later, Udinese’s Jurgen Ekkelenkamp created a brilliant moment to give the home side the lead. He collected the ball from a tight angle on the edge of the area, shrugged off a defender and curled a brilliant finish into the top corner.

Napoli became more involved in the closing stages, having been outscored for much of the second half. Rasmus Hojlund came close when he arrived unmarked at the far post and met a cross, but lost his balance and fell as his effort sailed over the crossbar.

Deep into stoppage time, Napoli had another chance when Lorenzo Lucca stretched to meet a cross in the penalty area, but his effort hit the base of the post and went wide.

Published on December 14, 2025