NAPOLI — Napoli's hopes of closing the gap on Juventus at the top of the Serie A to two points were dashed Sunday following an under-par performance in 0-0 draw at home to Sampdoria. With leader Juve losing 1-0 at AS Roma Saturday with Francesco Totti scoring, Napoli was looking to up the pressure on its Turin rival and bounce back after a 3-0 Europa League defeat at the San Paolo against Viktoria Plzen Thursday. After a minute's silence to remember former Napoli player Carmelo Imbriani, who died of cancer on Friday at 37, it was the visitors who came out in determined mood with Gianluca Sansone going close early on. Napoli responded well though, with Lorenzo Insigne letting fly from distance and Edinson Cavani then failing to capitalise on some good movement, fluffing a shot while off-balance into the arms of grateful goalkeeper Sergio Romero. Samp's big chance to break the deadlock came just after the half-hour mark when Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis tipped a low drive from Sansone past the post, then flapped at the resulting corner only to be bailed out by Valon Behrami, who cleared off the line. Behrami was at it again after the break, this time with a decisive block to deny Mauro Icardi's shot. Napoli was living rather dangerously but, as the game entered its final phase, the visitors were clearly tiring. Goran Pandev came off the bench to link up nicely with Marek Hamsik, whose powerful left-foot shot was only kept out by a full-stretch Romero. Second-placed Napoli was beginning to assert itself, with Paolo Cannavaro coming out of defence to test Romero with a decent effort, but struggled to make possession count in front of an increasingly impatient crowd. Juventus still remains within touching distance, albeit four rather than two points away, with the two sides meeting at the San Paolo in March.Struggling Pescara lost 2-0 to Cagliari while Torino earned a useful three points with a 2-1 win at home to Atalanta. Genoa, easing itself clear of the drop zone, saw off Udinese 1-0 and Catania are seventh thanks to a 1-0 defeat of Bologna. Dortmund routs Frankfurt Marco Reus scored a hat trick Saturday as 10-man Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 at home in the Bundesliga. Reus opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Germany teammate Mario Goetze sprung the offside trap with a superb pass. Reus did it again two minutes later when Mats Hummels set him up to shoot inside the far post through Kevin Trapp's legs. Frankfurt received a lifeline in the 31st when Julian Schieber was sent off for a second yellow card for catching Bastian Oczipka's face with his elbow. But Reus completed his hat trick in the 65th when Goetze pulled the ball back after some skillful interplay with Ilkay Guendogan. — Agencies
