With each of the three teams in the chasing pack winning ahead of kick-off at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Napoli knew they had a task on hand against a side they had failed to beat in their last four head-to-head meetings. .
And Antonio Conte's men started on the front foot as Giovanni Di Lorenzo broke into the Lazio penalty area before slotting the ball to Scott McTominay, whose effort was tipped around the post by Ivan Provedel. The Scot proved dangerous for the Azzurri when he headed wide of the penalty area after Matteo Politano's throw.
Despite Napoli dominating the early stages, it was the visitors who came closest to breaking the deadlock midway through the half. Gustav Isaksen broke down the right flank, cut inside and unleashed a powerful effort that forced Alex Meret to palm the ball away.
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa came closest for the hosts after tapping the ball with his back to goal and hitting it towards goal, but Provedel turned the ball around the post. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a quiet evening by his standards, but the Georgian striker almost ended the half with a sublime free-kick from distance, while his powerful effort flew inches wide of the post on the final kick before half-time.
Lazio came out with renewed effort after the restart, and they came within moments of opening the scoring when Fisayo Dele-Bashiru picked up the ball 30 yards out and fired a rocket onto the crossbar.
Conte is said to have been disappointed with his side's performance after the break as Napoli failed to hit the target in the opening 25 minutes of the second half. Anguissa cleared the woodwork with a close-range header as it looked like the goal would never come for the Partenopei.
However, the goal came after 79 minutes for Lazio.
A fast-breaking pitch culminated with Tijjani Noslin picking out Isaksen, who took an exceptional first touch and finished in the far corner with a curling shot from outside the penalty area.
Conte made the changes in a desperate bid to salvage at least a point, but Lazio held on for a victory that will be celebrated in Bergamo, while Atalanta BC top the table in their quest for a first-ever Serie A title. on.
Napoli travel to Udinese next week as they look to turn their form around after back-to-back losses to Lazio following their Coppa Italia defeat in midweek.
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