Carpi vs. Napoli: Final score 0-0, Boring match, disappointing result

You could be forgiven for sleeping though this match. It wasn't especially exciting. Napoli came out in a match that they should have won and needed to win, and instead of doing that they played super flat against a Carpi team that wasn't terribly interested in doing much other than defending, and were handed a 0-0 draw for their troubles.

With Carpi playing very compact in the back, usually with between six and eight men behind the ball. Napoli lacked the incision or drive to best that on Wednesday, and it cost Napoli their ability to win the match. Yeah, they dominated possession, yeah they took a ton of shots. But little of that possession actually generated threat in the final third, and half those shots were "hopeful" efforts from range that not even Gokhan Inler would have tried. There's really nothing else worth saying about this match. It was boring. It was bad. That's it. That's all you need to know.

This is the exact kind of result that we all feared coming into this match: Napoli looking flat and uninspiring and uninteresting against a lesser team for the hundred thousandth time. At least they weren't punished for it -- thankfully, Carpi aren't that good -- but getting just a point out of this match is so far off the ideal it's not even funny, especially with Napoli facing a big match against Juventus this weekend.

Fortunately, Napoli didn't have the worst result of the matchday -- Juventus and Roma both one-upped them. Juve tossed away a win against Frosinone, who are even worse than Carpi, by giving up a goal to a player who was in Serie D not too long ago in stoppage time. Roma lost to Sampdoria on a late own goal. Still, this result is just another disappointment in this young season for Napoli, one that's had more bad moments than good so far. Hopefully we see the other side of the coin this weekend against Juventus, because another disappointment would be a little bit too much right now.

Carpi: Benussi (Brkic 29'); Zaccardo, Romagnoli, Bubnjic; Letizia, Lollo, Cofie, Fedele, Gabriel Silva; Matos (Lasgna 89'), Mbakogu (Borriello 69')

Goals: none

Napoli: Reina, Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam, Allan, Valdifiori (Jorginho 61'), Hamsik (Callejon 84'), Insigne, Higuaín, Mertens (Gabbiadini 68')

Goals: none