Victor Osimhen picked up where he left off, scoring a brace, as Napoli cruised to a 1-3 victory over newly-promoted Frosinone in the opening match of the 2023/24 campaign.
Like the first match of the 2022/23 campaign against Hellas Verona, Napoli conceded the opening goal to the home side. New signing Jens-Lys Michel Cajuste was careless with his clearance in the Napoli area, catching Jaime Báez with his follow-through. Abdou Harroui calmly sent Alex Meret the other way, opening his Frosinone account after his summer transfer from Sassuolo.
Cajuste had a difficult debut. In addition to conceding the penalty kick, his touch was poor and he was cautioned midway through the first half for a reckless slide tackle in the Frosinone half. The young Swede was replaced by Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa at the break.
Despite falling behind, Napoli remained calm and took control of the match, equalizing in the 24th minute. The visitors broke quickly after Amir Rrahmani won the ball at midfield. Piotr Zielinski’s shot was blocked, but the rebound fell kindly to Matteo Politano. The winger shot on the volley with his preferred left foot and beat Stefano Turati. The young goalkeeper will be kicking himself for not doing better.
The Partenopei thought they took the lead ten minutes later. Victor Osimhen stretched to reach the cross of Politano to the second post. The ball fell kindly to Giacomo Raspadori and the versatile forward, starting over the injured Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at right wing, smashed the ball into the back of the goal. However, a VAR review confirmed that Cajuste was offside in the buildup and the goal was disallowed.
Napoli persisted and took the lead moments before the break. Once again, Garcia’s men were very direct in attack. Politano played a one-touch pass to Giovanni Di Lorenzo, marauding forward on the underlap. The Napoli captain outmuscled Luca Mazzitelli before cutting the ball back to Osimhen in the area. The reigning Capocannoniere thumped the ball first-time, tucking the ball under the bar to score his first of the 2023/24 campaign.
The second half was less frantic than the first. Frosinone’s one and only chance of the half came ten minutes after the restart. Rrahmani fouled left winger Giuseppe Caso in a dangerous area to break up the Frosinone counterattack. Báez’ curling effort from 30 yards out beat Meret and crashed off the upright and stayed out. Báez and Caso were impressive on the Frosinone wings.
Though the home side looked dangerous going forward, Napoli remained largely in control and put the match away in the ten minutes before the end of normal time. After nearly scoring a second in the 58th minute, Osimhen timed his run perfectly to receive the one-touch through-ball from Di Lorenzo. The Nigerian made no mistake with only Turati to beat, securing all three points for the Azzurri.
