Leaders Napoli needed a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia penalty to break down a strong Empoli side, who were left to rue wasting their early scoring opportunities.
The visitors were without Stanislav Lobotka and Alex Meret, so Billy Gilmour got his first Serie A start with Scott McTominay. The hosts lost their unbeaten record after two wins and four draws, with Saba Sazonov, Samuele Perisan, Luca Belardinelli, Youssef Maleh, Szymon Zurkowski and Tyronne Ebuehi injured.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Sebastiano Esposito hit a great volley from a tricky angle at the back post, forcing an early save out of ex-Empoli goalkeeper Elia Caprile, who moments later stuck out a boot to parry the Giuseppe Pezzella effort at the other stick.
Napoli also threatened when Alessandro Buongiorno’s header on a corner was cleared practically off the line by Ardian Ismajli, but Caprile got down to fingertip away the low Esposito effort.
Giovanni Simeone came off the bench and made an immediate impact, because moments later Giovanni Di Lorenzo pulled back from the by-line for his shot to be charged down and then Tino Anjorin lightly trod on Matteo Politano’s foot for a penalty. Kvaratskhelia stepped up and converted, waiting for the goalkeeper to go down before sending it the other way. It was the first goal Empoli had conceded at the Stadio Castellani this season.
McTominay fired just over the bar as Simeone laid off the Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa pass, but that goal proved to be one of the only real Napoli scoring opportunities.
Empoli 0-1 Napoli
Kvaratskhelia pen 63 (N)
Player statistic
| Alberto Grassi |  |
33' | ||
| 37' | |
Frank Anguissa |
| 63' |  |
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia | ||
| 76' | |
Giovanni Di Lorenzo |
Match statistic
Napoli played terribly but won the game.