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Udinese failed to break down 10-man Napoli after Fabiano Santacroce's second red card in as many games.
The Stadio Friuli was buzzing after Thursday's UEFA Cup successes, Udinese winning 2-0 away to Borussia Dortmund and Napoli defeating Benfica 3-2. Last season this fixture ended 5-0 for the visitors, but the inspirational figure of that day - Ezequiel Lavezzi - is out for two weeks with a strained knee ligament. Christian Maggio and Mariano Bogliacino also missed out, while Dias Felipe and Cristian Zapata were yet to make their seasonal debuts for Udinese.
It was a curious encounter for Maurizio Domizzi, who left Naples in bitter circumstances in the final hours of the transfer window.
Napoli had the first real scoring opportunity after 14 minutes, as Vitale ran on to a Walter Gargano through ball and fired his left-foot drive on to the side-netting.
Antonio Di Natale pounced on a dreaful Fabiano Santacroce error and was running clear on goal, but Gennaro Iezzo read the situation well and came tearing out to close it down. Santacroce was shaky and risked a second booking for his tackle on Di Natale.
Iezzo also had to perform a smart save to smother Di Natale's powerful low free kick.
Vitale has been a revelation this season and his mazy run concluded with a shot on to the side-netting.
Napoli threw on Gustavo German Denis, but it was Manuele Blasi who cracked a shot against the base of the upright from outside the area within 60 seconds of the restart.
Fabio Quagliarella's solo effort was scuffed into the arms of Iezzo and once again Santacroce was fortunate to escape a second yellow card for hacking down Alexis Sanchez, but rode his luck too long and was eventually sent off for a pointless trip on Maurizio Domizzi. It was the Italian-Brazilian's second red card in as many games this season.
Udinese now poured forward in waves against 10-man Napoli and a smashing Gokhan Inler effort from over 20 metres clattered against the crossbar with Iezzo well beaten.
Fernando Tissone's effort was deflected out for a corner, but despite the pressure Napoli held on for a point.
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