Napoli's woes continued as they were held at home to a 1-1 draw by Bologna Saturday.
Eduardo Reja's side have not won a game since January 11, but that seemed set to change when Christian Maggio put them ahead in the 20th minute.
However, their lead lasted only three minutes before Serie A top goalscorer Marco Di Vaio pounced to earn Bologna a point which moves them three points clear of the bottom three.
The visitors had goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli to thank as he thwarted Napoli's attempts to win their first game in seven attempts.
A minute's silence was held before kick off in respect of Giacomo Bulgarelli, a legend of Bologna and Italian football, who died yesterday.
When the action got under way, Napoli looked extremely motivated with Maggio setting up a chance for Ezequiel Lavezzi, whose overhead kick was saved instinctively by Antonioli.
That was just the start of a busy, yet successful evening for Bologna's veteran goalkeeper who, at the age of 39, proved to be as agile and energetic as a teenager.
He could do nothing about the opening goal from Maggio in the 20th minute, even though he did come close to a miraculous save.
It was a goal made in Argentina. Debutant Jesus Datolo set the ball rolling with Lavezzi and Denis also involved in the build-up with the latter finding Maggio in front of an open goal at the far post and he placed the ball in with Antonioli still getting his fingertips to it.
The whole of the San Paolo sensed a return to the Napoli of old, but rather than build on their lead, they conceded an equaliser within three minutes.
Di Vaio bagged his 16th goal of the season after a series of terrible errors in the Napoli defence.
Matteo Contini committed the first by playing a dangerous ball across field and Leandro Rinaudo failed to control the ball well, gifting it to Sergio Volpi who, with the aid of his arm, took the ball into the area and shot low at Nicolas Navarro.
The Argentinian goalkeeper made a hash of his save, parrying the ball to the feet of Di Vaio, who rifled the ball into the roof of the net
Napoli collapsed and the fans lost their patience, booing their own defenders' every touch in reaction to their erratic defending.
Di Vaio was keen to take advantage and he headed Cristian Zenoni's shot goalwards where Navarro made a dramatic save.
Francesco Valiani tested Navarro next before almost taking advantage of a mix-up between the Napoli goalkeeper and Paolo Cannavaro 10 minutes before the break.
Antonioli then began his sequence of saves to first deny Lavezzi on the stroke of half time and then prevent Denis from scoring with two headers early in the second half.
Not wanting to be outdone, Navarro made a remarkable save at stretch to tip a Di Vaio header over the crossbar.
He was beaten by Davide Bombardini in the 69th minute, but the Bologna midfielder's shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced out to safety.
The home side finally reacted and Denis led their assault on the Bologna goal, but they simply could not find a way past an inspired Antonioli, who secured a crucial point for the visitors.
