Claudio Ranieri’s future as Inter Milan coach was plunged into further doubt on Sunday when his side lost 1-0 at Napoli, a seventh defeat in their past eight matches.

Beaten by an injury-time goal in Marseille in their Champions League last 16 first-leg clash in mid-week, Inter are in seventh place in Serie A, nine points off the third and final qualifying place for next season’s premier European tournament.

Inter went into Sunday’s match with history against them, having not won a league match at the San Paolo in Naples since a 2-0 victory in 1997.

Napoli, meanwhile, had been buoyed by a 3-1 Champions League win over Chelsea and their confidence was translated into three points when Ezequiel Lavezzi, who scored twice against the Londoners, hit a right-footed drive past Julio Cesar on the hour.

The home side, who are now in fifth place, even survived having Salvatore Aronica red-carded for a foul on Andrea Poli.

Udinese stayed third, six points behind leaders AC Milan, after a 3-1 win at Bologna, while Lazio are fourth, also on 45 points, thanks to a 1-0 win at home to Fiorentina.

Miroslav Klose scored Lazio’s only goal after 36 minutes.

Roma’s bid for a top-three finish received another setback when they fell to a heavy 4-1 defeat at Atalanta.

The loss – Roma’s third in their past four away games – leaves Luis Enrique’s side in sixth place.

In the fight against relegation, Siena capitalised on the early dismissal of defender Federico Balzaretti to romp to a 4-1 win at home to Palermo.

The Italian international saw red after just one minute and 13 seconds of the match, for a last-man foul on Siena’s Mattia Destro.

The victory kept the Tuscan side two points clear of the relegation zone, after third-bottom Lecce recorded a surprise 2-1 win at Cagliari.

Novara, 19th, fell 3-1 at Catania and bottom side Cesena lost 1-0 at Chievo to leave the two sides nine and 10 points from safety respectively.