Conte’s ship cracked and began to sink - Udinese win against champion

Udinese played against Napoli in a Serie A match without theatrics, relying on relentless persistence that ignores the authority of the champions, and secured a 1–0 (0–0) victory.

Napoli arrived in Udine as one of the two best teams in Serie A so far, but still carrying the sting of their recent defeat to Benfica. In this 15th-round clash, they turned into a wall that cracked under repeated blows.

In the second half, The Little Zebras intensified their attacks. The first real breakthrough came in the 52nd minute — a goal, an explosion of excitement, then silence as VAR ruled it out for offside. The second attempt, in the 69th minute, saw the same drama and cold verdict from the referee, this time for fouling a Napoli player just before Zaniolo had scored past Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

Udinese’s persistence finally paid off on the third attempt, breaking Antonio Conte’s wall. Jurgen Ekkelenkamp scored one of the season’s most beautiful goals, curling the ball from around 17–18 meters into the near corner past Milinkovic-Savic. This marked Udinese’s first win over Napoli since April 2016.

Napoli’s dip in form is further highlighted by the fact that, under Antonio Conte, they have now lost back-to-back matches three times in the past year and a half: once in December last year, again in October this year, and now for the third time.

SERIE A - ROUND 15

Friday

Lecce - Pisa 1-0 (0-0)

/Stulic 72/

Saturday

Torino - Cremonese 1-0 (1-0)

/Vlasic 27/

Parma - Lazio 0-1 (0-0)

/Noslin 82/

Atalanta - Cagliari 2-1 (1-0)

/Scamacca 11, 81 - Gaetano 75/

Sunday

AC Milan - Sassuolo 2-2 (1-1)

/Bartesaghi 34, 47 - Kone 13, Lauriente 77/

Fiorentina - Verona 1-2 (0-1)

/Nunez 69 (og) - Orban 42, 90+3/

Udinese - Napoli 1-0 (0-0)

/Ekkelenkamp 73/

20.00: (6.50) Genoa (4.20) Inter (1.53)

22.45: (3.00) Bologna (3.25) Juventus (2.60)

Monday

22.45: (2.15) Roma (3.30) Como (3.50)

*** odds are subject to change ***