Napoli’s Serie A title defence suffered another setback as they lost 3-0 at Torino on Sunday.
Antonio Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno scored to move the hosts into the top 10.
With only one win in their last six league games, Napoli fell to ninth in the standings with 28 points.
They also trail leaders Inter Milan by 20 and only one point ahead of Torino at the halfway stage of the season.
Napoli was without their top goal scorer, Victor Osimhen, who is already with the Nigerian national team ahead of the 2023 African Cup of Nations.
The hosts pounced on the advantage once Napoli were reduced to 10 men when second-half substitute Pasquale Mazzocchi, recently signed from Salernitana, was sent off for a high-boot challenge on Valentino Lazaro just five minutes into his debut.
“It is not the most beautiful victory.
“With the sending-off it all became a bit easier today, but I have experienced many beautiful matches at the helm of Toro.
“Even in Florence (in a 1-0 loss to Florentina) we dominated without being able to win it; today it went well… we had a good match.
“We have to keep working like this and the guys have to keep believing in their means,” Torino head coach Ivan Juric told reporters.
Torino’s methodical offensive finally broke through just before halftime when Ivan Ilic’s free kick took a deflection from Duvan Zapata and fell to Sanabria for a quick finish.
“Perfect week with renewal and goals, I am very happy to have extended with this club.
“I felt great here from the first day, the people immediately transmitted their love to me,” said Sanabria, who signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The hosts doubled their lead early in the second half when Vlasic got the ball from Zapata and dribbled his way into an opening before finding the corner of the net.
Torino sealed their first win over Napoli since 2015 when Lazaro’s corner kick was headed home by Buongiorno, making it 3-0 shortly after the hour mark.
Napoli will look to turn things around when they host bottom side Salernitana on Saturday, while Torino will hope to continue their momentum at Genoa.
Meanwhile a stoppage-time header by Dusan Vlahovic helped Juventus come from behind to grab a 2-1 win at Salernitana in Serie A on Sunday.
This was after the hosts were reduced to 10 men early in the second half.
The win allowed Juventus to keep pace with leaders Inter Milan in the title race as they reached the halfway mark in the campaign in second spot in the standings on 46 points.
They are two points behind Inter, who beat lowly Verona 2-1 in a drama-filled clash on Saturday, and seven above third-placed AC Milan.
“Let’s be realistic. We have the Inter team in front of us who are having an important championship.
“Winning in Salerno was important to maintain the distance from fifth place. We have a 14-point advantage, that means five games. That’s already a lot,” coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters.
Vlahovic echoed the coach’s comments, stressing that a top-four finish is currently Juventus’ main focus.
“Our goal is to get into the Champions League.
“Let’s move forward game by game, then we’ll see,” Vlahovic said.
Juventus missed out on the top-tier European competition this season having ended seventh last year after they were docked 10 points in May for the club’s transfer dealings.
Salernitana midfielder Giulio Maggiore beat Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box before the break.
But Samuel Iling-Junior equalised in the 65th minute and Vlahovic headed home the winner in the 91st.
The hosts were left with 10 men when Maggiore received his second booking for a tackle on Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot in the 53rd minute.
Salernitana, who on Thursday were thrashed 6-1 at Juventus in the Coppa Italia last 16 after opening the scoring in the first minute, had an early chance through Junior Sambia.
Juventus are unbeaten in their last 14 Serie A games, the longest ongoing unbeaten streak in the competition.
They next host 14th-placed Sassuolo on Jan. 16.
Salernitana, who are bottom with 12 points from 19 games, visit champions Napoli on Saturday.
