Jorge Alastuey scored his first goal since joining Napoli U19 this month, one of four Napoli goals en route to a 4-1 victory over Salernitana in the Coppa Italia Primavera.
Lineup
Nicolò Frustalupi rotated his entire squad, after his regular starters played in a 1-1 draw against Torino in the Primavera 1 on Sunday.
(3-4-2-1): Turi; Pontillo, Nosegbe, D’Avino; Boni, Alastuey, Lettera, Giannini; De Pasquale, Russo; Sahli
Match
It didn’t take long for Napoli to open the scoring from a corner kick taken short. Enrico Giannini played an in-swinging cross to the second post, where Dylan De Pasquale was waiting to volley in his first of the season. Salernitana goalkeeper Andrea Sorentino came off his line but misread the flight of the ball, leaving a wide open goal for De Pasquale.
Napoli had the opportunity to double their lead five minutes later, but Lorenzo Russo’s effort from 25 meters out just missed the bottom corner.
Instead, just past the half-hour mark, Salernitana took advantage of a second consecutive corner kick to score the equalizer. Central defender Mario Perrone attacked the cross taken towards the near post and flicked his header past Turi to make the score 1-1.
The Azzurrini would have retaken the lead had it not been for important interventions by Sorrentino on Giannini and De Pasquale.
The second half started the same way the first half ended: with Napoli on the front foot. Only three minutes after the restart, Russo got behind the Salernitana back line before drawing a foul from Perrone. The defender, being the last man back, was shown a straight red card. Bilel Sahli stepped up to the spot with an opportunity to score his first in a blue shirt, but his shot crashed off the upright and stayed out.
With the extra man, it didn’t take long for Napoli to take the lead. in the 52nd minute, Luigi D’Avino picked out Giannini with a long ball toward the left wing. Giannini cut the ball back into the area, where Alastuey calmly placed a left-footed shot into the bottom corner at the far post.
Despite conceding four goals, Sorrentino was arguably the man of the match, making quality saves on Russo, Alastuey, Landry Boni, D’Avino and most impressively, Antonio Pesce (from the penalty spot). Sorrentino also got help from the frame of the goal, which kept Pesce from scoring his first of the season earlier in the match.
Napoli were simply too much for a short-handed Salernitana side to cope with. Even a red-hot Sorentino could not stop D’Avino from scoring his first in the 70th minute and De Pasquale from scoring his second of the match in stoppage time.
After seven consecutive losses in all competitions (four in the Primavera 1 and three in the UEFA Youth League), Napoli have now gone four consecutive matches without a loss. With the 4-1 victory, the Azzurini advanced to the round of 32, where they will play Reggina. Napoli will be back in action on the weekend to take on Atalanta U19 in the Primavera 1.
Post-Match
Frustalupi spoke about his club’s recent form after the match.
“The results help the kids’ morale. We came from a period where we were still having good performances, but we weren’t able to score points. Instead, in this recent period, from the victory against Bologna onwards, the points have certainly given us a hand. With Salernitana playing in Primavera 2 it was an easier match than in the Youth League and in the championship. I think they played well, even if the expulsion, especially the first one, gave us a hand”
