Napoli 0-0 Como: Holders drop points in goalless draw as Morata misses penalty

Cesc Fabregas’ Como side proved again that they can go toe-to-toe with the Serie A heavyweights after they held Napoli to a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, extending their unbeaten run to nine games (W4, D5).

Match Report

Two teams who have had brilliant starts to their domestic campaigns were meeting here in what promised to be an entertaining affair. Both sides got off to fast starts, but it was Como who carried the greater threat with Maxence Caqueret’s volley forcing Vanja Milinkovic-Savic into a comfortable save, before Fabregas’ side were dealt a blow inside eight minutes when Marc-Oliver Kempf was forced off due to injury.

The visitors maintained their momentum despite that setback, and should have gone 1-0 up just before the half-hour mark.

Assane Diao sent Alvaro Morata through on goal, but the Spaniard was brought down in the box by a rash Milinković-Savić. However, after picking himself up to take the resulting penalty, his poor effort was saved by the Napoli goalkeeper, denying Morata a first goal for Como in 12 appearances for the club.

The Scudetto holders were restricted to shots from distance as Scott McTominay saw an effort from 25 yards parried away by Jean Butez, before Eljif Elmas was also denied by the Como stopper, who ensured the game remained goalless at the break.

Antonio Conte made a change ahead of the restart, introducing Miguel Gutierrez, and the Spaniard almost had an immediate impact as he drifted towards goal before unleashing a powerful effort that sailed inches over the bar. Matteo Politano was next to try his luck just before the hour mark after winning possession on the edge of the Como box before spinning and firing at the near post, but Butez palmed it away.

Despite the home side upping the ante in the second half, Como were able to soak up all the pressure without Butez being overly worked for large periods.

It took until the 80th minute for the Lariani keeper to be called into action again, but he comfortably gathered from Rasmus Hojlund’s close-range header. In the end, neither side were able to break the deadlock, and Morata’s penalty miss proved to be the pivotal moment in the contest, denying Como a famous first-ever win away at Napoli.

Antonio Conte’s men picked up their first draw of the season but have now failed to win three of their last six Serie A outings.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

5' Match Event for Napoli vs Como

15' Highlight from Napoli vs Como

24' Match Event for Napoli vs Como

27' Penalty Missed!

74' Match Event for Napoli vs Como

80' Match Event for Napoli vs Como

Line-ups

Napoli XI: Spinazzola, Di Lorenzo, Politano, Rrahmani, Vanja Milinković-Savić, Anguissa, Neres, Buongiorno, McTominay, Gilmour, Højlund

Subs: Juan, Lobotka, Nikita Contini, Pasquale Mazzocchi, M.Olivera, Elmas, Lang, Sam Beukema, Miguel Gutiérrez, Lorenzo Lucca, Giuseppe Ambrosino, Antonio Vergara, Luca Marianucci, Mathias Ferrante

Como XI: Morata, Kempf, Jean Butez, Caqueret, Ivan Smolcic, Máximo Perrone, Álex Valle, Nico Paz, Jayden Addai, Jacobo Ramón, Assane Diao

Subs: Mauro Vigorito, Moreno, Alberto Cerri, Goldaniga, Carlos, S.Posch, Mërgim Vojvoda, N. Kühn, Anastasios Douvikas, Lucas Da Cunha, Brempt, Nikola Cavlina, Martin Baturina, Jesús Rodríguez, Andréa Le Borgne