Four-star Napoli cruise past Frosinone

Date: 8th December 2018 at 4:54pm
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A dazzling attacking display from Napoli saw them ease past the limp resistance of a disappointing Frosinone side when they won 4-0 at the Stadio San Paolo on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors had been in impressive form on the road of late but were no match for a scintillating Partenopei side, spearheaded by first half strikes from Piotr Zielinski and Adam Ounas, before Arkadiusz Milik chipped in with a second half double.

Napoli’s slip up in their last home game against Chievo, coupled with the fact that Juventus had beaten Inter on Friday night to extend their lead at the top, meant that nothing less than three points would do.

As a result, the home side started with intent and it took just seven minutes for them to hit the front when Zielinski rifled his effort into the corner of the net for the opener.

A looping, dangerous Faouzi Ghoulam attempt kept Marco Sportiello honest but there was simply nothing he could do to prevent the home side from making it 2-0 five minutes before the break.

The excellent Ounas, who had shone throughout, got the goal his display deserved with a left-foot thunderbolt from 30 yards that the former Atalanta goalkeeper never came close to.

It should have been three before the sides finally exited for the break, only for Milik’s goal-bound volley to be met with an incredible last ditch block from Marco Capuano to keep it at two at the interval.

Shortly after the hour mark, Ounas showed how high his confidence was by picking Lorenzo Insigne out with a beautifully executed outside of the boot pass but his near post effort was kept out by Sportiello by throwing a strong right leg at the ball.

On 68 minutes, the third did arrive when Ghoulam swung in a perfect near post corner and it was met with an emphatic header from Milik which ended any fait Frosinone hopes of resistance.

He added further gloss to the scoreline as Napoli continued to pour forward in search of more goals and they got the fourth on 84 minutes when Ghoulam picked out Milik for the simplest of close range finishes, claiming another assist in the process.

THE IDEAL DEBUT

Alex Meret endured a difficult start to life at the Stadio San Paolo when he picked up an injury after joining in the summer and as such, was made to wait before making his eagerly anticipated debut. It was the ideal opponent for such an occasion. Frosinone rarely threatened and what few chances they created were comfortably dealt with by the 21-year-old on his first appearance since April.

THE OUNAS EFFECT

Chances for the 22-year-old have been few and far between this season. This was only his third start in all competitions so the ex-Bordeaux man knew he had to make the most of it in trying to impress Carlo Ancelotti and he certainly did that. Everything he attempted seemed to come off. Dazzling pirouettes, blistering shots from range, cheeky assists. It all worked out for him, and on top of it, he tracked back frequently to win both possession and fouls and shone in displaying the dirtier side of his game too. It was just a shame he exited on 72 minutes with a shoulder knock.

 

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