Napoli beat AC Milan 1-0 at the San Siro on Sunday to climb to second in Serie A above their opponents, with VAR taking centre stage in a dramatic finale.
Midfielder Elgif Elmas glanced a header home at the near post from a corner to stun the hosts and edged the visitors to the side in the fifth minute, a lead Napoli held until the latter stages without overly upset.
Experienced Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was most likely to find an equalizer after going through the middle of the first half and just after the break.
In the 90th minute, when Milan looked out of ideas, Franck Kessie snatched a point, sparking wild scenes of celebration, only for VAR to make it out for offside against Olivier Giroud as he took a penalty. was lying on the ground in the area.
Milan was furious with the call but Napoli went on to reach 39 points for the first win in four league games, similar to Milan but above Stefano Pioli's team on goal difference.
Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti told DAZN: "The thing that really pleased me was it wasn't too deep until the last five minutes, we kept the balance right even after we took the lead."
"It got difficult in the final minutes when Olivier Giroud added to his presence in Zlatan Ibrahimovic's physicality. But we had a chance to go 2-0 up and we played like a great team against a great opponent."
Milan and Napoli remained unbeaten in their opening 12 league games of the season, but the pair's disinterested form has opened the door for Inter Milan, who are now assured of being 'winter champions' in Italy as they finish four with one. on top of the points. Round of matches to come before the Christmas break.
Inter have 43 points from 18 matches after beating Salernitana 5-0 on Friday. Napoli and Milan are on 39, while Atalanta, who lost 4-1 at home to AS Roma on Saturday, have 37.
After being at the top of the standings for so long, Napoli knew a fourth defeat in six league games would leave it all up to them to hold on to Inter, but they gave themselves the right stage with Elmas' opening opener.
Both the teams were missing several key players due to injuries and it showed in terms of poor quality.
The whole drama happened right on death. Casey's effort was poor but Milan didn't care at all, Pioli also rushed to attend the ceremony.
Referee David Massa was asked by VAR to take another look at the target on the pitchside monitor, and ruled that substitute Giroud, who was prone on the field, was offside while attempting to engage in the build-up.
"I know they will say the rules were enforced, but how can a player who is lying on the floor hurt an opponent?" Pioli told DAZN.
"There's no way he [defender] is stopping Juan Jesus. Giroud's legs are wide, he's doing everything he can to get out of the way."