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·28 January 2024

Serie A | Lazio 0-0 Napoli: Toothless stalemate

Napoli looked toothless and Lazio came closest with Taty Castellanos, but his sensational bicycle-kick was offside and a back-heel flick cleared practically off the line.

Both teams were still smarting from defeats in the Supercoppa Italiana Final Four and decimated by bans from that tournament that carried on into Serie A. Giovanni Simeone, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Jens Cajuste were suspended, plus Alex Meret, Natan and Mathias Olivera injured, Victor Osimhen and Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa at AFCON. The hosts had Ciro Immobile and Mattia Zaccagni banned, with Patric on the treatment table.

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Only two points separated these sides in the table, so it was a head-to-head for European ambitions. Some sections of the stands were closed as punishment for racist chanting from Lazio fans.

Gustav Isaksen fired over from the edge of the box on a Luis Alberto assist, then Taty Castellanos had penalty appeals, but seemed to mistime the jump.

Isaksen cut inside from the right and fired over the bar, but Lazio had the ball in the back of the net within seconds of the restart.

It was a magnificent Castellanos chest control on a ball over the top and then overhead kick into the far corner. However, he had wandered offside and it did not count.

Danilo Cataldi saw his daisy-cutter from the edge of the area flash just wide, then Gianluca Gaetano volleyed off target from a cleared corner.

Castellanos had another huge chance when he met the Isaksen roll across with a back-heel flick to beat Pierluigi Gollini, but Leo Ostigard got back in time to clear in the six-yard box.

Cyril Ngonge and Leander Dendoncker made their Napoli debuts in the final minutes, but Lazio continued to have the best chances from a series of corners. This means the Partenopei failed to find the net in eight of Mazzarri’s 14 matches at the helm.