Gonzalo Higuain was whistled off the park by Palermo fans as the Sicilians put the brakes on Napoli's quest for Champions League football next season with a crushing 3-1 defeat on Saturday.

Napoli travelled to the Stadio Barbera wary after being held to a 3-3 draw by Giuseppe Iachini's men at the San Paolo last September.

And those fears proved warranted as Achraf Lazaar, Franco Vazquez and Luca Rigoni hit a goal apiece to put Palermo firmly in the driving seat by 65 minutes.

Manolo Gabbiadini, who replaced Marek Hamsik on 54 minutes, hit a late consolation for Napoli only minutes after Palermo fans had given Higuain a rousing send-off, in somewhat mocking fashion, when he was replaced by Duvan Zapata on 74 minutes.

It was only Palermo's ninth win over Napoli in 42 meetings and moved Iachini's men up to seventh place in Serie A, nine points behind Napoli, who sit in third in the final Champions League qualifying place.

Iachini played down his team's chances of qualifying for Europe, but was quick to praise his side for adapting to a new formation to curb Napoli's usually potent 4-3-3.

"During the week we'd worked on a 4-3-2-1 formation, which we also used in our game at Napoli to take some of the fizz out of their game and close them down on the flanks," Iachini told Sky Sport.

"The lads executed things perfectly in terms of the intensity and concentration."

Napoli had won their last four games on the trot to tighten their grip on third place, while their promising run of late had also fired a warning shot to title challengers Roma.

But Roma, who host Parma on Sunday, now have a chance to take their advantage over Napoli to seven points.

Napoli's bid started to unravel before the quarter hour when a howler by goalkeeper Rafael allowed Lazaar, who hit a drive from almost 40 yards, to savour his maiden Serie A goal.

"We succumbed to a surprise goal, and that changed the whole gameplan," Napoli coach Rafael Benitez told Mediaset, although the Spaniard refused to blame his keeper.

"The lad works hard, these things can happen in games. We win as a team, so you can't just lose on your own.

"But we're conceding too many goals, and that's not satisfying. It's something we have to work to eradicate."

Palermo spurned a chance to double their lead when Francesco Bolzoni dragged his angled shot wide after nice work by Paulo Dybala and Vazquez.

Jonathan De Guzman scuffed his shot for Napoli and soon after a classic counter-attack launched by Robin Quaison saw Dybala lay off for Vazquez to stroke the ball home from close range.

Moments later Higuain saw his low drive tipped around the post by Stefano Sorrentino but the Argentinian would have a frustrating night, a booking just before half-time meaning he will miss the visit of Sassuolo next week.

Rafael made amends for his earlier error when he finger-tipped Vazquez's half-volley on to the upright, but the keeper was left stranded on 65 minutes when yet another move involving Dybala saw the hosts go 3-0 up.

The Argentinian, a target for a number of top clubs in England, intercepted a poor Raul Albiol pass and when his cross was headed into the path of Rigoni, the midfielder slid in to slot the ball into a virtually empty net.

In spite of Gabbiadini's late goal, Napoli were soundly defeated.

Earlier, on-loan Chelsea midfielder Mohamed Salah hit his first Serie A goal and set up one of a brace for Khouma Babacar as Fiorentina continued their push for Europe with a 3-1 win away to Sassuolo.

Salah joined La Viola on a six-month loan deal last month after failing to make a lasting impression on Blues coach Jose Mourinho.

But in his second game and first start for the Florence-based club, Salah underlined his desire to make the move permanent.

Fourth-placed Fiorentina are now just four points off Napoli.