Serie A | Parma 1-1 Napoli: McTominay can’t break curse

Scott McTominay managed to claw back a point for Napoli after Gabriel Strefezza put Parma in front within 33 seconds, but this result damages their Scudetto ambitions.

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The Partenopei climbed into second place with a 1-0 victory over Milan and were seeking a sixth straight Serie A win. Rasmus Hojlund returned after a stomach bug, but David Neres, Antonio Vergara, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani and Romelu Lukaku were still out of action. The Ducali had just three draws in the last five rounds, and top scorer Mateo Pellegrino was suspended, with Benja Cremaschi and Matija Frigan also absent.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

It took an incredible 33 seconds to break the deadlock, as in his first start for the club, Nesta Elphege jumped to flick on the long Zion Suzuki ball, allowing Gabriel Strefezza to run into the box and bend the finish in off the far post with the inside of the right boot.

Despite pouring forward, Antonio Conte’s men struggled to create any genuine chances, as Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa nodded wide with a Hojlund foul in the build-up.

Instead, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had to rush out into midfield to clear from Enrico Delprato.

On the stroke of half-time, Kevin De Bruyne’s corner was flicked on for Hojlund, finding Delprato ready to clear practically on the line.

Juan Jesus was struggling to deal with Strefezza, so he was replaced by Sam Beukema for the restart in the Napoli defence.

Matteo Politano blasted over from the edge of the area, while Alisson Santos came off the bench and fired so far wide that it went for a throw-in.

Napoli finally equalised with one of their first shots on target, as Stanislav Lobotka’s first-time through ball was laid off by Hojlund for McTominay to drill home from the edge of the area.

The visitors continued to pour forward, Suzuki right behind the Alisson Santos low drive, then Politano’s cross flashing all the way across the face of goal without a tap-in.

Suzuki was ready for the acrobatic McTominay overhead kick on a corner, but Parma also threatened with a ball flashed across the six-yard box and two players sliding in failing to connect.

Alisson Santos skimmed the near post from a tricky angle and there were Parma penalty appeals for handball, but Alessandro Buongiorno’s arm was in a natural position when Leonardo Spinazzola kicked it onto his teammate from point-blank range.

Milinkovic-Savic had to fingertip the Mandela Keita scorcher out from under the bar, while Eljif Elmas really should’ve done better with a free header over the bar from the Miguel Gutierrez cross.

Alisson Santos also stung Suzuki’s gloves in stoppages, but Parma have for the third game in a row held Napoli to a potentially costly stalemate in the Scudetto race.

Parma 1-1 Napoli

Strefezza 1 (P), McTominay 60 (N)

12-04-2026 14:00

MatchDay 32

Parma Store (Stadio Ennio Tardini)

Parma

Napoli

1 - 1

Player statistic

1st half

Gabriel Strefezza (Assist: Nesta Elphege)

1'

2nd half

		60'		Scott McTominay (Assist: Rasmus Højlund)
Alessandro Circati		83'

Match statistic

26

Possession %

74

3

Total shots

20

2

Shots on target

6

0

Shots off target

6

1

Blocked shots

8

3

Corners

7

2

Offsides

2

4

Fouls

8

Parma

Napoli

Starting lineups

31

Zion Suzuki

Goalkeeper

39

Alessandro Circati

Defender

14

Emanuele Valeri

Defender

15

Enrico Delprato

Defender

5

Lautaro Valenti

Defender

37

Mariano Troilo

Defender

10

Adrián Bernabé

Midfielder

67'

41

Hans Nicolussi Caviglia

Midfielder

66'

16

Mandela Keita

Midfielder

7

Gabriel Strefezza

Attacker

72'

23

Nesta Elphege

Attacker

59'

32

Vanja Milinković-Savić

Goalkeeper

4

Alessandro Buongiorno

Defender

5

Juan Jesus

Defender

46'

37

Leonardo Spinazzola

Defender

17

Mathías Olivera

Defender

99

Frank Anguissa

Midfielder

56'

11

Kevin De Bruyne

Midfielder

78'

8

Scott McTominay

Midfielder

68

Stanislav Lobotka

Midfielder

21

Matteo Politano

Attacker

78'

19

Rasmus Højlund

Attacker

66'

Substitutes

29

Franco Carboni

Defender

66

Filippo Rinaldi

Goalkeeper

40

Edoardo Corvi

Goalkeeper

11

Pontus Almqvist

Attacker

21

Gaetano Oristanio

Midfielder

17

Jacob Ondrejka

Attacker

3

Abdoulaye Ndiaye

Defender

27

Sascha Britschgi

Defender

22

Oliver Sörensen

Midfielder

59'

8

Nahuel Estévez

Midfielder

66'

24

Christian Ordoñez

Midfielder

67'

76

Daniel Mikolajewski

Defender

72'

1

Alex Meret

Goalkeeper

14

Nikita Contini

Goalkeeper

30

Pasquale Mazzocchi

Defender

6

Billy Gilmour

Midfielder

23

Giovane

Attacker

31

Sam Beukema

Defender

46'

27

Alisson Santos

Attacker

56'

23

Giovane Nascimento

Attacker

66'

20

Eljif Elmas

Midfielder

78'

3

Miguel Gutiérrez

Defender

78'