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Cristiano Lucarelli was denied by the crossbar as Ascoli earn their second consecutive draw.
The Amaranto were the favourites going into this game, as they finally ended their 10-match winless streak by beating Messina last week and now had the support of their season ticket holders in the Stadio Picchi. Ascoli were also weakened by the injury to veteran goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca and Gaetano Fontana.
Cristiano Lucarelli hesitated and couldn't make the most of Fabio Galante's cross, then Marco Amelia required a splendid save to keep out Paolo Foglio's volley.
Ascoli's injury woes intensified with Sasa Bjelanovic limping off with a knee problem after just 16 minutes.
Carmine Coppola tested Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos from distance and David Balleri failed to conclude on the follow-up, while Grandoni's volley was off target.
Eleftheropoulos was forced to prove himself in the Ascoli goal - his first Serie A game in two seasons - when a Stefano Fiore free kick was whipped in for a point-blank save on Galante's header, then Balleri's follow-up was closed down.
Fiore fired wide after a defensive error and Andrea Soncin had a shot charged down from close range.
In the second half Eleftheropoulos kept out a Cristiano Lucarelli attempt, but Antonio Filippini was furious when he felt he was denied a penalty for a trip by the Greek goalkeeper.
Lucarelli went even closer, his fine lob clipping the crossbar with the Ascoli goalkeeper beaten.
Marco Amelia parried a Soncin left-foot strike and substitute Paulinho's low angled drive shaved the far post
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