Udinese 1-0 Napoli: Conte's men miss chance to go top after shock defeat
Napoli's title charge hit another bump as Antonio Conte's side were handed their fourth defeat of the season by Udinese.
Napoli missed the chance to reclaim top spot in Serie A as they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away to Udinese on Sunday.
AC Milan's 2-2 draw with Sassuolo earlier in the day had opened the door for Antonio Conte's side to move one point clear at the summit, but Napoli turned in a below-par display at the Bluenergy Stadium, where Jurgen Ekkelenkamp's second-half goal proved enough for Udinese.
The visitors started brightly and went close in the 11th minute when Leonardo Spinazzola squared for Noa Lang, only for Nicolo Bertola to make a vital intervention and deny what looked to be a certain opener.
Udinese then saw a goal ruled out following a VAR review seven minutes into the second half as Bertola's powerful drive was parried by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic into the path of Keinan Davis, who finished instinctively but from an offside position.
Jakub Piotrowski struck the crossbar just before the hour mark as Udinese imposed themselves on the game, while Nicolo Zaniolo also saw a goal disallowed after a VAR check for a foul on Stanislav Lobotka in the build-up.
Those warnings proved telling as Napoli's defence failed to deal with Ekkelenkamp's long-range effort, which took a deflection and looped over Milinkovic-Savic before dropping into the bottom-right corner.
Napoli had a late chance to salvage a point, but Rasmus Hojlund squandered a golden opportunity in the 88th minute, clipping his close-range effort over the bar.
Data Debrief: Bad day at the office for Napoli
Following Sunday's loss, Napoli have now lost four of their first eight away matches in a single Serie A season for the first time since 2009-10 (also four).
Indeed, it was a rough outing from start to finish for Conte's side, who failed to attempt a shot on target in a league game for the first time since facing Lazio in January 2024.
The result also marked their first Serie A defeat to Udinese since April 2016 (a 3-1 loss at home), with Udinese ending a streak of 18 consecutive matches without a win against the Partenopei in the competition (D4 L14).
