Napoli Primavera conceded three first half goals in a 5-1 defeat to Ajax, a result that was nearly the exact opposite of the result between the respective senior teams on Tuesday.
With a busy fixture list, Nicolò Frustalupi rotated nearly the entire squad that he fielded against Cagliari on Saturday.
Napoli U19 Lineup: (3-4-3) Turi; D’Avino, Susko, Pontillo; Giannini, Gioielli, Spavone, Gningue; Russo, Rossi, Boni
It didn’t take long for Ajax to open the scoring. In the 8th minute, midfielder Gabriel Misehouy beat Claudio Turi with a shot into the bottom corner on a cross from left back Jorrel Hato.
Jeppe Kjær Jensen doubled Ajax’s lead only five minutes later, guiding in another cross from the left wing, this time from winger Stanis Idumbo-Muzambo.
Ajax were dominating the match, but let Napoli back into it after a grave error by Sten Kremers. The Ajax goalkeeper conceded possession in his own area under pressure by Boni. Then he then fouled the Napoli forward trying to recover the ball, getting himself sent off in the process. Leandro Rossi stepped up and converted the penalty to reduce the gap to one.
However, Ajax responded immediately with a goal on the counterattack. Idumbo-Muzambo tucked his shot just under the bar to give Ajax a 3-1 lead heading into the break.
In an effort to get back into the match, Frustalupi used all five of his substitutions by the midway point of the second half. Benedetto Barba, Gennaro Iaccarino, Pasquale Marranzino, David Acampa (all of whom are regular starters) and Alessio Lettera were brought in off the bench.
As in their previous UEFA Youth League matches, the Azzurrini were more positive in the second half, when the score was not in their favour. However, they were unable to get past Paul Reverson, who replaced Kremers.
Idumbo-Muzambo put the match away in the 78th minute, dribbling past Pasquale Pontillo before scoring his second of the match, to go along with an assist.
Striker Jaden Banel added a fifth with a late penalty kick, after substitute forward David Kalokoh was fouled in the area.
With the loss, Napoli have just about been eliminated from the competition, midway through the Group Stage. The Azzurrini will be back in action on Sunday, when they host Bologna in the Primavera 1.
