It ends 0-0 at Castellani between Empoli and Frosinone. A small step in the standings for Nicola and Di Francesco, which leaves a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth because they see Sassuolo getting closer after the victory against Inter last night and the victory at the same time against Verona, who are two points behind and nail them tied in fourth last place, waiting for Udinese who go to Naples tomorrow.
two false nines
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Nicola, without Walukiewicz, finds Ismajli in the back three, in midfield Marin takes Maleh’s place from the match against Atalanta; trident confirmed with Fazzini and Cambiaghi behind Niang. Di Francesco, with the exception of the injured Turati in goal replaced by Cerofolini, confirms the same formation for the fourth in a row but with a small change in formation: Brescianini false nine (like Niang), with Cheddira and Soulé wide. In defense Okoli recovered alongside Romagnoli and Lirola, in the middle central tandem Mazzitelli-Barrenechea with Zortea and Valeri on the outside.
goal disallowed
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Frosinone’s first spark in the 5th minute, with Soulé taming a game changer in the area and unloading for Mazzitelli, a nice first shot deflected over the crossbar by Caprile. The Argentine ace on loan from Juve seems to be having a great day, a great run in the area in the 12th minute with a curling shot that goes wide. But in the 16th minute Empoli is dangerous with a pass for Niang who brings up Cerofolini, but is offside. Nicola’s boys take courage, with Fazzini who is knocked down by Okoli, causing the yellow and blue defender to be warned. On the development of the free kick (20′) Empoli scores with a tap-in by Gyasi on a great low shot from Marin rejected by Cerofolini, but Var Irrati cancels it for offside: there were three Azzurri over the line, it’s inexplicable why there wasn’t second assistant Perrotti’s flag raised. Frosinone ends the first half on the front foot, worth mentioning are two good initiatives by Cheddira wide on the left and he concentrates for the curling shot, first wide and then dived away by Caprile.
fear of discovery
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In the second half the first moves were made by Nicola, who in the 10th minute replaced Grassi with Maleh and a dull Niang with Caputo. The match continues to be very balanced and tactical but never boring. In the 17th minute it is worth mentioning an Empoli restart caused by an error by Valeri, who is then forced to foul a thrown Fazzini: sacrosanct yellow. Frosinone responds in the 19th minute with an initiative by Brescianini who enters the area and puts it in the middle for Cheddira, who tries a backheel shot blocked by Ismajli. Second slot of substitutions for Nicola in the 26th minute: Cancellieri for Cambiaghi and Zurkowski for Fazzini. Di Francesco responds with Bonifazi for Romagnoli and a real striker, Cuni, for Cheddira. However, the fear of losing is growing, the feeling is that a point could somehow benefit both of us. Of note, 3′ from the end, a post from Caputo who however was offside.
