(Reuters) – Juventus missed the chance to return to the top of Serie A when they were held to a 0-0 draw at mid-table Parma on Wednesday.

Juventus, disappointed not to be awarded a penalty when Andrea Pirlo went down under the challenge of Fabiano Santacroce in stoppage time, stayed second in the table, one point behind AC Milan but with a game in hand.

“We dictated the game and it’s a shame not to win an encounter we’ve dominated in such a way,” Juventus manager Antonio Conte told reporters.

Jonathan Biabiany (L) of Parma and Marcelo Estigarribia of Juventus in action during the Italian Serie A soccer match Parma FC vs Juventus FC at Ennio Tardini stadium in Parma, Italy. - EPA

“We created many different goalscoring opportunities and we should have put the ball in the back of the net, but I must say that also today there were several incidents to be reviewed.

“It seems that there’s almost fear to award Juventus a penalty.

“We’ve only had one in our favour, less than everyone. And on average we spend 75 minutes in the opponents’ half and we often get into their penalty area. It’s a situation that rankles, an alarming statistic. From Siena and Parma, for the single incidents, instead of two points, we would have had six.”

Juventus were denied by an impressive display from Parma keeper Nicola Pavarini who made a series of good saves.

The keeper superbly turned a long-range effort from Pirlo around the post with 10 minutes remaining and saved from Emanuele Giaccherini from close range.

Guido Marilungo scored the only goal of the game as Atlanta Bergamo moved up to 14th with a 1-0 win over Genoa.

The forward struck in the 78th minute with a precise finish low into the bottom corner after a neat interchange with German Denis.

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