Antonio Conte took the blame for Napoli's surprise 2-1 defeat to Como, which has left them chasing Inter in the Serie A title race.

Napoli's first defeat in 11 league matches dashed their hopes of reclaiming top spot on Sunday.

They sit second with 56 points, one point behind reigning champions Inter.

While Napoli restored parity after centre-back Amir Rrahmani gifted the lead to Como in the seventh minute with an own goal, they looked far from their best after the break as winger Assane Diao netted a 77th-minute winner for Cesc Fabregas' team.

"It's inevitable that the second half didn't satisfy me and it didn't satisfy anyone," Conte said.

"I'm sorry we lost it on hunger and nastiness. Sorry, but surely we must all together try to understand why.

"Congratulations to what these guys [Como] are doing, we found ourselves with pressure on us for our own merits, now we have to understand if we are good at carrying it.

"We have to take steps and lick our wounds but we are sorry because you can lose tactically but not in terms of hunger and nastiness. I am responsible.

"I'm not looking for excuses. Today we did Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and it wasn't the first time. As soon as we slow down mentally and in terms of nastiness anything can happen.

"I'm sorry but the boys had nothing to do with it, it was me who didn't notice a slowdown in focus and nastiness. Having said that, we are putting the pressure on ourselves. It is written neither in heaven nor on earth that we are where we are.

"We must maintain what we have done. We have to give our best, it burns us because defeat must not be tolerated."

Sunday's win marked only Como's second victory over Napoli in Serie A, and their first since November 1952.

Next up for Napoli is a huge clash with Inter – a fixture that could well prove pivotal in settling the title race.