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Frosinone 0-2 Napoli: Player Ratings, Younes stars as Napoli comfortably dispatch Frosinone

Frosinone 0-2 Napoli: Player Ratings, Younes stars as Napoli comfortably dispatch Frosinone

Napoli responded well to Monday’s disappointing collapse against Atalanta by making light work of a struggling Frosinone side. At times in the second half they strung together some fine moves, and it seemed as if the confidence that has so been lacking in their play recently may have returned. There will be tougher tests for them as the season draws to a close, but their performance today, and their first clean sheet since early March have given them something to build on in the last few games. Amin Younes produced a fantastic display and capped his finest performance in a Napoli shirt with the second goal.
 
The game started brightly with chances for both teams early on. Napoli controlled the possession but looked susceptible to Frosinone on the break. Indeed the home side could have taken an early lead when Valzania capitalised on a Koulibaly slip, before feeding Pinamonti, who beat Luperto with ease and managed to get a shot away from inside the box, but he dragged his low effort wide of Ospina’s goal. Napoli responded well to this and Younes showcased his quick feet by creating a chance almost out of nothing, receiving the ball on the left touchline, then jinking inside the box and curling a shot towards the far post, but Sportiello was up to the challenge and tipped the shot away.

Napoli’s pressure eventually told though, when Younes was brought down on the edge of the box. From the resulting free-kick Mertens delightfully curled his shot past Sportiello and into the top corner. Younes was a thorn in Frosinone’s side throughout, and every time he received the ball his direct running and trickery caused the opposition defence problems.

Napoli came out strongly in the second half too and doubled their lead in the 49th minute, when Younes picked up the ball outside the box and played a perfect one-two with Milik, and the German winger continued his run into the penalty area and placed his shot into the corner of the Frosinone goal. It was no less than Younes deserved, and if Insigne is to leave in the summer, he certainly made a compelling case today for being the man Napoli can look to as his replacement. That he has the talent is undeniable, but he needs to show it on a more consistent basis if he is to make that position his own next season.

The second goal seemed to boost Napoli’s confidence and they started playing some lovely one touch passing moves that often left the Frosinone defence chasing shadows. One such move led to an incredible passage of play where Napoli hammered the ball against the Frosinone woodwork twice in quick succession. Callejon first saw his sliced effort rebound back off the post, after being set up by Fabian. Milik kept the ball alive and fed Fabian who, despite having the whole goal to aim at fired his effort against the crossbar and it fell to safety.

There were a couple of late flashpoints, as Frosinone’s frustrations bubbled over, and the home side mustered a couple of opportunities, but in the end, Napoli held on to secure all three points, and possible more importantly, their first domestic clean sheet since they travelled to Parma at the end of February.