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Napoli suffered a 2-0 defeat at Bologna on Sunday, with goals from Thijs Dallinga and Jhon Lucumí keeping the Serie A title race wide open.
Napoli are second in the standings on 22 points, level with the leaders, Milan. Bologna join Inter and Roma, who play later in the evening, on 21 points.
Bologna faced an early setback when their goalkeeper, Lukasz Skorupski, appeared to suffer a leg injury in the opening stages, leading to the 17-year-old Massimo Pessina making his Serie A debut. But the hosts broke the deadlock five minutes after half-time when Dallinga met a low pass from the byline and, with the outside of his foot, steered it inside the near post from close range.
Lucumí doubled Bologna’s lead in the 66th minute, rising to head in a cross from inside the area. Napoli attempted a comeback, Noa Lang’s effort striking the upright minutes later, but Bologna kept their opponents at bay and closed out the match with ease.
Meanwhile, in La Liga, Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw at Rayo Vallecano as the hosts became the first team to keep a clean sheet in the league against the table toppers this season.
The result moved Xabi Alonso’s side to 31 points from 12 games, opening the door for Barcelona to cut their lead to three points when they play Celta Vigo later on. Rayo are 12th on 15 points.
Augusto Batalla, the Rayo keeper, was the standout player of the match. The Argentinian made several saves to deny the visitors, while the home side defended resolutely to keep their clean sheet.
Kylian Mbappé, who has netted 13 goals to top La Liga’s scoring chart, had a quiet afternoon. The Frenchman was restricted to just one shot as Madrid failed to win at the Estadio de Vallecas for the fourth season in a row.
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This story will be updated.
