Napoli have lost more ground on the top two courtesy of a 1-1 draw with struggling Livorno in their Serie A encounter at the Stadio Armando Picchi this evening.
Napoli almost took the lead in fortuitous circumstances after 11 minutes when Ibrahima Mbaye tackled Marek Hamsik inside his own box, sending the ball looping over the keeper and off the crossbar.
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They were ahead shortly after the half-hour mark, however, as Federico Ceccherini was adjudged to have pushed Goran Pandev inside the area, conceding a penalty. Dries Mertens stepped up and converted the spot kick, firing his effort straight down the middle.
The visitors almost doubled their lead moments later as Federico Fernandez rose highest inside the box to meet a free kick, but Francesco Bardi was equal to the header.
Livorno levelled things up with just over five minutes to go of the first half as Pepe Reina nudged the ball over his own line having failed to deal with Mbaye's routine flick.
The hosts started the second half brightly, with Leandro Greco drawing a save from Reina, but they struggled to create a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The clearest chance of the second period came in the 89th minute as Mertens sent a delivery across the six-yard box, but Daniel Zapata couldn't turn it into an empty net.
Barney Corkhill
