Leonardo Rossi scored his first of the Primavera 1 campaign, as Napoli earned their fourth consecutive result without defeat in a 1-0 victory over Udinese U19.
Lineup
Nicolò Frustalupi made two changes to the squad he fielded against Atalanta. Benedetto Barba returned to the starting XI to play over Pasquale Pontillo. Meanwhile, Jorge Alastuey got his first Primavera 1 start, relegating Antonio Spavone to the bench.
(3-4-2-1) Boffelli; Obaretin, Hysaj, Barba; Acampa, Gioielli, Iaccarino, Lamine; Marranzino, Alastuey; Rossi
Match
The first half was a stalemate, with the respective midfields cancelling each other out. Napoli’s best chance came midway through the half, when Pasquale Marranzino played the ball to Davide Acampa, but Udinese goalkeeper Zuccarello Di Bartolo pushed the shot out for a corner kick.
Napoli defended well, blocking a number of shot in and around the area. When Udinese got their shots past the Napoli defenders, they failed to hit the target.
Frustalupi made his first change in the 56th minute, replacing Alastuey with Spavone. That seemed to give Napoli a bit of a spark. Marranzino got an excellent opportunity at the hour mark, but his shot from the centre of the area missed the target.
Moments later, Napoli opened the scoring. Benedetto Barba played a long ball forward to Leonardo Rossi, and the striker beat Di Bartolo with his left to put Napoli ahead 1-0.
Udinese came close to equalizing in the 77th minute, but Boffelli made an important double-save to protect the clean sheet. That was Udinese’s final chance of the match, as the Azzurrini held on for the 1-0 victory.
With the win, Napoli have clawed their way out of the relegation playoff zone, earning eight points in their last four matches. The Azzurrini will be back in action on Tuesday to play their final match of the 2022/23 UEFA Youth League.
