Napoli edged Palermo 1-0 at the Stadio Renzo Barbera on Sunday evening in Serie A, to keep them within three points of leaders Juventus.
Gonzalo Higuain stepped up from 12 yards to hand the visitors a precious win.
It took just two minutes for the Partenopei to cause havoc in the home side’s box, with Lorenzo Insigne nearly nipping in around Stefano Sorrentino but the goalkeeper managed to turn around the post.
Napoli’s dominance was rewarded on 20 minutes following a penalty decision. Sinisa Andelkovic, despite being warned prior to the corner, dragged down Raul Albiol leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot.
Higuain made no mistake sending Sorrentino the wrong way and, in turn, scored his 27th goal of the season.
Despite the goal, Napoli were failing to cause any major problems for Palermo, and the Rosanero were unable to capitalise with only long balls pumped into the box their best chance of grabbing an equaliser.
Just prior to the break Pepe Reina made a fine save low down to deny Franco Vazquez and keep his side ahead at half-time.
The second-half began as the first did with Insigne again causing all the problems. The Italian found his way into the area, latching onto a flicked ball from Jorginho yet his volley was thwarted by the keeper.
As the match progressed past the hour mark into the final 20 minutes Palermo began to come into the match.
Vazquez caused a number of problems when running the channels and one cross nearly created havoc when Reina fumbled a catch but fortunately for the Spaniard the ball trickled off for a corner.
The final result meant Napoli are now four games unbeaten whilst Palermo remain above the relegation zone by only a point over Frosinone.
