Napoli lose to Parma in Serie A

MILAN: Gennaro Gattuso’s debut as Napoli coach ended in a 2-1 injury-time defeat to Parma on Saturday as last season’s Serie A runners-up extended their winless run to eight league games.

Gattuso took over after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked despite Napoli’s 4-0 Champions League win over Genk booking their place in the last 16 in midweek.

But the former AC Milan coach’s reign got off to the worst possible start as the southerners drop to eighth — 17 points behind leaders Inter Milan who play Fiorentina.

Gervinho struck the winner in the third minute of injury time after Dejan Kulusevski had put Parma ahead after just four minutes in Naples.

Arkadiusz Milik pulled the hosts level on 64 minutes in the game which had been delayed after high winds damaged the roofing of the San Paolo Stadium.

“This team is suffering psychologically,” said Gattuso, “paying for the fact that it has not won (in the league) for 50 or more days.

“The mirror of the current situation was the first ten minutes. It’s tough, as are the whistles of the fans. There’s a lot of work to do.”

Kulusevski struck early as defender Kalidou Koulibaly lost control of the ball minutes into the game.

The Senegalese defender went off with a thigh injury just after his blunder, with Parma also losing striker Andreas Cornelius to injury after quarter of an hour. Napoli captain Lore­nzo Insigne missed chances to break through, inexplicably sending wide with just Parma goalkeeper Luigi Sepe to beat.