For the second time this season, Frosinone Primavera scored a late winner to hand Napoli Primavera a 1-0 defeat.
Lineup
For the third consecutive match, Nicolò Frustalupi went with the same starting XI.
(3-4-2-1) Boffelli; Hysaj, Barba, Obaretin; Acampa, Gioielli, Alastuey, Boni; Sahli, Spavone; Rossi
Match
Though the first half was very competitive, the flow and rhythm of the match were disrupted by numerous fouls from either side. Neither side created many opportunities to score, with the best chance of the half falling to Napoli in the opening five minutes.
As the last man back, defender Daniel Hysaj calmly dribbled around the press before passing the ball forward to Alessandro Spavone at midfield. The trequartista played a diagonal through-ball to Leonardo Rossi, who had a clear path to goal from just inside the Frosinone half. The striker carried the ball to the edge of the area before a slide tackle from Frosinone defender Matjaz Kamensek-Pahic forced a weak effort from Rossi. Goalkeeper Lorenzo Palmisani stopped the shot with relative ease.
Napoli pushed forward again five minutes later, after Spavone pressed Simone Cangianiello and forced a turnover. Francesco Gioielli recovered the loose ball and launched Rossi on the right wing. Napoli looked threatening but Rossi played his low cross straight to Palmisiani and nothing came of the chance.
Shortly after the midway point of the half, Hysaj took a shoulder to the nose from Cangianiello. Even the defender’s protective face mask, which he’s worn since breaking his nose earlier in the season, was not enough to prevent the defender’s nose from bleeding out. Fortunately, Hysaj was able to carry on.
The second half was more eventful, with Frosinone creating their first real chance from a corner kick less than a minute after the restart. Andrea Peres played an outswinging cross into the area. Centre back Cristian Maura rose up to win the header and directed it towards the top corner, but Valerio Boffelli reacted quickly and pushed the shot over the bar.
Napoli responded well, creating numerous chances, but their finishing was rather poor. In the 56th minute, Jorge Alastuey picked out Bilel Sahli in the area with an inswinging corner kick. The Tunisian attempted an acrobatic volley but the shot finished well off target.
A minute later Napoli should have taken the lead. Sahli played a left-footed cross into the area after Davide Acampa was dispossessed on the left wing. Gioielli was left completely unmarked and needed to (at least) test the keeper with the free header, but somehow the midfielder missed the target.
Sahli was arguably Napoli’s best player in the match. In the 63rd minute, he did really well to run onto the through ball from substitute Matteo Marchisano and held it up in the area. The forward fought off the Frosinone tackles near the by line before playing the ball back to Spavone. He cut the ball back to an unmarked Rossi at the spot, but the striker inexplicably pulled his first-time hit wide of the far post.
Finally, Napoli came close again with a cross from the left wing in the 70th minute. Acampa played a diagonal ball to substitute Cedrick Koffi on the right side of the area, and he picked out Alastuey with a low cross in front of the goal. The Spaniard didn’t make great contact on the first-time hit, but still managed to direct his shot towards the bottom corner at the far post. It took a full stretch from Palmisani to prevent the goal.
Frosinone caught a second wind for the final ten minutes of the match. In the 79th minute, Alessandro Selvini let a Frosinone throw-in bounce past Nosa Obaretin on the left wing. The winger cut onto his preferred right foot before letting fly but his tiragiro crashed off the upright and stayed out.
That was the second time Frosinone hit the upright in the match. In the 58th minute, full back Marco Rosati lobbed the ball towards the second post from the left side of the midfield. Midfielder Simone Milazzo ran onto the ball but his volley with the instep of his right boot hit the outside of the upright and stayed out.
It appeared as though the match would end in a scoreless draw, but Frosinone found the back of the goal in the 87th minute. Selvini played a long ball down the right wing for substitute Diego Voncina to chase. The striker caught up to the ball before the by line and volleyed a cross towards the first post. Another substitute, Pietro Pera, beat Gioielli to the ball and directed a diving header perfectly into the top corner.
With only minutes left to play, Frosinone held on for the 0-1 victory. With Milan’s 1-2 defeat to Fiorentina and Atalanta’s 1-1 draw against Juventus, all three teams are now level on 21 points. In the event the teams are level at the end of the season, head-to-head record will be used as the tiebreaker. Until such time, the standings are determined by goal differential, which places Napoli at the bottom of the three and Atalanta and Napoli in the two relegation playoff positions.
