Catania draw 0-0 with Verona in Serie A

Rome: Bottom placed Catania squandered a series of first-half opportunities and were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Verona in the Italian Serie A football.

Luigi De Canio`s side spurned several chances, with Sebastian Leto and Gino Peruzzi particularly wasteful Saturday, reports Xinhua. Juan Iturbe then dragged a left-footed shot off target for Verona shortly after the break and Toni had a header well saved by Alberto Frison on the hour mark. Castro and Leto both had opportunities to steal the win for Catania late on but the hosts could not find the breakthrough, as their winless run in Serie A was extended to four matches. De Canio remained optimistic after the draw. "Unfortunately we were only missing a goal, but we proved we`re still alive and kicking," he said. "This is the path we must follow to climb back up the standings. We have several players who are still injured or recovering, like Giuseppe Bellusci, Sergio Almiron and Gonzalo Bergessio." "Once we have the complete squad at our disposal, we will all come together to get out of this difficult moment," he added. His Verona counterpart Andrea Mandorlini said he was happy with the draw. "We had the right spirit and towards the end I thought we` d win the game, but perhaps that was asking too much. We are content with the point, even if we missed a couple of great chances due to the wrong decision-making," he said.