Napoli hit out at “shameful” refereeing after slipping to a 2-1 loss at top-four rivals Atalanta in Serie A on Sunday, as Lazar Samardzic scored a late winner for the hosts.
Raffaele Palladino’s side extended their unbeaten run in the league to nine matches with an impressive second-half fightback.
Atalanta remain seventh in the table, but only two points behind fourth-placed Roma, who host Cremonese later on Sunday, in the race for next season’s Champions League.
Injury-hit reigning champions Napoli sit third, but only five points above Atalanta and now 14 adrift of runaway league leaders Inter Milan.
Napoli were incensed after having a penalty award overturned and then a goal disallowed in the first half.
“Where is the foul? The VAR called him on the penalty, why not on this? It’s embarrassing,” Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna told DAZN.
“There has to be a review of this because every week a club ends up here protesting about decisions.
“All we want is what is right, what is ours, but this is not right, and it is not football. It’s shameful, I have no more words.”
Atalanta will turn their attentions to next week’s Champions League knockout play-off second leg against Borussia Dortmund, when they will attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit in Bergamo.
The visitors grabbed an early lead when Sam Beukema, one of three Napoli players left completely unmarked, headed in Miguel Gutierrez’s free-kick.
Conte’s men were awarded a penalty shortly before halftime when Rasmus Hojlund went down in the box, but the decision was overturned following a VAR review.
Hojlund was in the thick of the action again in the first minute after the restart when his cut-back was turned in by Gutierrez, only for the goal to be ruled out for a foul by the Danish striker in the build-up.
Atalanta levelled just after the hour mark when Mario Pasalic flicked a header into the corner from Nicola Zalewski’s corner.
The home team completed the turnaround with nine minutes remaining as Samardzic sent a looping header into the far corner from Lorenzo Bernasconi’s cross.
