Goran Pandev's late winner sent Napoli through to the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Thursday with a 2-1 victory over Serie A struggler Cesena.

Eduardo Vargas had a nightmare debut for Napoli as his mistake gave Cesena defender Stefan Popescu the opener in the 20th minute.

However, Edinson Cavani equalized in the 65th minute before Pandev's late strike, which television replays showed it had gone behind the goal line before Cesena goalkeeper Nicola Ravaglia had pushed the ball clear.

Napoli will face either Inter Milan or Genoa in the next round.

Napoli, which is sixth in the Serie A standings, wasn't expected to struggle with Cesena in the relegation zone and having lost four of its past five games.