With the clash at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi heading for a scoreless stalemate, Walter Samuel got his side out of trouble with an 87th-minute goal to cover up for Diego Milito's penalty miss on 14 minutes.
Milito added some gloss to the victory when he struck the back of the net in the 90th minute
Napoli started the night in fifth spot, but jumped into fourth in fine style with a 6-3 thrashing of Cagliari.
Six different goalscorers - including an own goal - contributed to Napoli's great night out at the Stadio San Paolo, with Marek Hamsik scoring the all-important opening strike on 10 minutes.
Paolo Cannavaro added a second nine minutes later, before Cagliari defender Davide Astori touched into his own net on the half-hour mark to put the hosts 3-0 up.
Argentine Joaquin Larrivey scored the first goal of his hat-trick prior to the break to give the visitors hope, but any chance of a comeback was snuffed by Ezequiel Lavezzi's penalty 11 minutes into the second half.
Walter Gargano got in on the action in the 70th minute, netting Napoli's fifth, before Larrivey scored his second on 77 minutes.
Substitute Christian Maggio added a sixth for Napoli in the 84th minute, capping a rampant win for Walter Mazzarri's men.
Larrivey nabbed his treble in the second minute of injury time, completing an admirable performance in a losing outfit.
