Serie A | Frosinone 0-1 Udinese: Canarini collapse into Serie B

Originally posted on Football Italia | By Susy Campanale | Last updated 5/26/24

Frosinone were desperately unlucky, hitting the woodwork twice and conceding a late Keinan Davis Udinese strike, as Empoli’s win sends them into Serie B.

Going into the final round, the Canarini were on 35 points, the Friulani 34 and Empoli 33, so this was the most important fixture of the evening.

Anthony Oyono, Stefano Turati and Sergio Kalaj were out for the hosts, with Luca Mazzitelli only fit for the bench. The Friulani visited without Isaac Success, Walace, Sandi Lovric, Florian Thauvin, Gerard Deulofeu, Marco Silvestri and Enzo Ebosse.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Michele Cerofolini struggled to deal with an early Udinese corner, then had to push away the Lazar Samardzic cross-shot, but above all had to sprint out and make himself big to deny Brenner following a disastrous Pol Lirola shinned back-pass.

Frosinone finally woke up and Abdou Harroui stroked a finish inches wide on the counter-attack. Moments later, Maduka Okoye was forced into two spectacular saves on Nadir Zortea’s rocket and the Caleb Okoli header on the resulting corner.

Matias Soule almost gave Frosinone the lead on 40 minutes with a free kick that dipped viciously to smash against the crossbar.

At the dawn of the second half, the Canarini had a huge chance when Marco Brescianini ran onto the Soule through ball and his angled drive clipped the base of the far post.

Okoye had to make another fantastic save on Zortea’s curler, flapping it out of the far top corner with one hand.

Cerofolini was called upon, his gloves stung by Samardzic, but Udinese were the team who took the lead on 76 minutes.

Hassane Kamara floated a ball into the box, Lucca cushioned it down with his chest and Keinan Davis let it bounce before firing in first-time from eight yards.

Frosinone fought back, Emanuele Valeri testing Okoye with a scorcher from distance, but the news came through in stoppages that Empoli had taken the lead against Roma. This transformed everything, sending Frosinone down to Serie B.

The squad and coach Eusebio Di Francesco were utterly distraught, knowing they came into the final round in the strongest position, and yet they were getting relegated after just one season in Serie A.

Frosinone 0-1 Udinese

Davis 76 (U)

26-05-2024 19:45 MatchDay 38 Stadio Benito Stirpe

Frosinone

Udinese 0 - 1

Player statistic

2nd half

		66'		Nehuén Pérez
		76'

Keinan Davis (Assist: Lorenzo Lucca) 77'

Keinan Davis

Match statistic

58 Possession % 42 21 Total shots 10 5 Shots on target 5 8 Shots off target 4 8 Blocked shots 1 11 Corners 1 0 Offsides 2 6 Fouls 13 Frosinone Udinese

Starting lineups

31 Michele Cerofolini Goalkeeper 5

Caleb Okoli Defender 32 Emanuele Valeri Defender 19 Nadir Zortea Defender 20

Pol Lirola Defender 85' 6 Simone Romagnoli Defender 21

Abdou Harroui Midfielder 85' 45

Enzo Barrenechea Midfielder 4

Marco Brescianini Midfielder 88' 18 Matìas Soulé Attacker 85' 70

Walid Cheddira Attacker 40 Maduka Okoye Goalkeeper 12

Hassane Kamara Defender 87' 29

Jaka Bijol Defender 19

Kingsley Ehizibue Defender 58' 18

Nehuén Pérez Defender 31 Thomas Kristensen Defender 24 Lazar Samardžić Midfielder 32 Martín Payero Midfielder 11

Walace Midfielder 22

Brenner Attacker

46' 17 Lorenzo Lucca Attacker

Substitutes

Riccardo Marchizza Defender 33

Kevin Bonifazi Defender 16

Luca Garritano Midfielder 37 Lorenzo Palmisani Goalkeeper 30 Ilario Monterisi Defender 36

Luca Mazzitelli Midfielder 7 Jaime Báez Attacker 1

Pierluigi Frattali Goalkeeper 27 Arijon Ibrahimovic Attacker 17 Giorgi Kvernadze Attacker 47 Mateus Henrique Vanelli Lusuardi Defender 12

Reinier Midfielder 85' 11 Marvin Cuni Attacker 85' 29 Farès Ghedjemis Attacker 85' 14 Francesco Gelli Midfielder 88' 37

Roberto Pereyra Midfielder 93

Daniele Padelli Goalkeeper 26

Florian Thauvin Attacker 2 Festy Ebosele Defender 14 James Abankwah Defender 6 Oier Zarraga Midfielder 16 Antonio Tikvić Defender 30 Lautaro Giannetti Defender 70 Federico Mosca Goalkeeper 13 João Ferreira Defender 58' 33

Jordan Zemura Defender 87' 27

Christian Kabasele Defender

90' 9

Keinan Davis Attacker

This article first appeared on Football Italia and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: