Napoli 0 : 0 Cesena - Napoli held to stalemate

Napoli's poor league form continued as they were held to a goalless draw at home by Cesena.

Walter Mazzarri's side have drawn three of their last four games, losing the other against Genoa at the weekend, and they now trail third-placed Udinese by 11 points, making a return to the Champions League next season look unlikely.

However, they were denied victory by a controversial decision by referee Luca Banti to rule out a goal from Goran Pandev in stoppage time.

Napoli started slowly, building to a crescendo which culminated in Pandev's disallowed goal.

Standing between Mazzarri's side and victory was not only the referee, though, but Cesena's 41-year-old goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli.

After a few errors in recent matches which have seen Cesena slide towards the foot of the table, he redeemed himself at the Stadio San Paolo.

His best save came from a Pandev shot in the 80th minute which seemed destined for the far corner until the former Milan, Roma, Bologna and Sampdoria number one stuck out his right arm to push the ball wide.

He then kept his nerve and concentration to deny Edinson Cavani, who had found a rare hole in the Cesena defence in the 88th minute.

The danger was not fully averted, though, and Antonioli needed the help of team-mate Gianluca Comotto to make a goal-line clearance from Cavani's follow-up shot from a tight angle.

Cesena coach Daniele Arrigoni was sent off as his tension on the touchline saw him become a little too animated for Banti's liking.

Banti then made another big decision in the second minute of stoppage time to rule out what seemed to be a valid goal from Pandev.

He was not in an offside position when he picked up the ball from Christian Maggio to score from close range, but it appeared that Banti saw an infringement in the build-up, denying Napoli all three points with practically the last kick of the game.