Bernabé misses penalty as Parma and Udinese play out scoreless draw

There was a penalty, there was a huge save, and there was a Giovanni Daffara who played the hero at the Ennio Tardini, but in the end nobody could break the 0-0 between Parma and Udinese in Serie A. The result leaves both clubs level in the bottom half of the table, though the story of the match was far more dramatic than a blank scoreline suggests.

The game followed a curious script: Udinese controlled possession and created the majority of the clear chances, while Parma, less comfortable on the ball, got the most decisive moment of the match to claim all three points, and wasted it.

An end to end first half with nothing to show for it

From the start, Udinese set the tone with Nicolò Zaniolo as the main attacking threat. In the 5th minute he gave a warning with a shot that grazed the crossbar area, and later came attempts from Jesper Karlström (one of them clipping the bar in the 24th minute) and Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, neither finding the target. Parma answered with grit but little real clarity: Mandela Keita and Vincent Sierro tried their luck from outside the box without success, and Franco Carboni came close with a header that skimmed the crossbar right before the break. James Abankwah also had a clear headed chance in stoppage time, well dealt with by the home defense. The first half ended scoreless despite the back and forth.

The penalty that could have changed everything

The second half followed the same pattern until, in the 66th minute, the key moment of the match arrived: a penalty conceded by James Abankwah for a handball inside the box. Parma had the chance right there to go ahead in front of its own fans, but in the 68th minute Adrián Bernabé sent his effort just wide of the right post and wasted the golden opportunity. It was the hottest moment of the match and, at the same time, the one that sealed the fact that neither side would walk away with the win.

After the missed penalty, Udinese regained control with fresh legs off the bench: Keinan Davis kept testing the Parma goal with several shots (one in the 79th minute stood out, which was blocked), and in the closing stretch, Unai Gómez and Jakub Piotrowski both went for headers that missed the mark. Parma, for its part, tried to cause damage through Giovanni Fabbian and Simone Lontani after the substitutions, but could not seriously trouble the opposing goal in the minutes that remained.

The numbers behind the dominance with nothing to show for it

The stats confirm what was seen on the field: Udinese was clearly superior in possession and chances created, but could not turn it into a goal.

In our own expected goals estimate based on the match's shots, Udinese finished with 1.698 xG against Parma's 1.103, a gap that backs up the visitors' greater attacking volume, though it clearly wasn't enough to break the deadlock on the scoreboard.

What the preview said versus what happened on the field

Before the match, our projection gave Parma a 31% chance of winning, 33% for a draw, and 36% for an Udinese victory, with an estimated 2.09 combined goals between both teams. The draw ended up being the most consistent outcome with what was anticipated, though the actual 0-0 fell well short of the goal total projected for the matchup.

Takeaways from the match

With this result, both Parma and Udinese remain on 5 points in the standings, in 18th and 17th place respectively, each with a record of one win, two draws and six losses so far this season. Bernabé's missed penalty stands as the big what if for Parma, who had the clearest chance of the match at their feet to win in front of their own fans and couldn't convert it.