The Argentine scored a dramatic late winner against Inter but refused to accept any personal plaudits afterwards, insisiting the Partenopei’s resurgence has been a team effort

Gonzalo Higuain identified December’s Supercoppa Italiana success as the turning point of Napoli’s season, after firing his side into the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday night.

The Partenopei’s last-eight encounter with Inter at the San Paolo looked certain to go to extra time but, with just seconds remaining, their Argentine centre-forward lost Andrea Ranocchia on a throw-in before curling home a sublime winner.

Higuain refused to accept any praise for his last-gasp heroics, though, preferring instead to pay tribute to Rafael Benitez’s entire squad for building upon their penalty shootout success over Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana just before the winter break.

“I want to thank my team-mates and the fans who have supported us,” the striker told Rai Sport.

“The team has worked really well in this last period. We’re all going through a good moment right now and we must continue to take advantage of that. 

“We work well right until the end of every game and I’m sure that tonight’s win is just a consequence of this.

“I must say that we started to improve after the victory in the Supercoppa, as it gave us great confidence for the rest of the season. 

“But we’re not thinking too far ahead, only of Udinese this weekend.”

Napoli have lost just once since their Supercoppa success, coincidentally to Juve in Serie A, and will go into Sunday’s meeting with Udinese at the San Paolo just four points behind second-placed Roma in the standings.

Meanwhile, the reigning Coppa Italia champions will now face Lazio in the last four of this year’s competition.