Andrija Novakovich was a second-half attacking reinforcement in Frosinone’s late victory, while Anthony Fontana is still awaiting his first appearance with new team Ascoli.
Frosinone 1 – 0 Cosenza
Frosinone had an unexpectedly tough time to secure the three points against relegation-threatened Cosenza on Wednesday evening, needing a late penalty to claim the win.
As has been the case lately, the American forward Novakovich was left on the bench to start the game, but entered the fray fairly early in the second half.
During his half-hour of play, he had only 15 total touches and didn’t manage any shots on goal, although an accidental deflection of a teammate’s shot shortly after entering the field might have denied his own team a go-ahead goal.
A fairly even first half saw both keepers regularly tested, with both Frosinone’s Stefano Minelli and Cosenza’s Mauro Vigorito coming up big to deny their opponents on several occasions.
Cosenza thought they had a justified claim for a Frosinone red card when Gaëtan Laura got tangled up with the last defender as he broke free past the 70th minute, but the referee disagreed.
In the end, the game was decided from the spot, after Cosenza defender Andrea Hristov knocked over substitute Alessio Tribuzzi just inside the right side of the area in the final moments, allowing Gabriel Charpentier to nail his penalty attempt to the right side of goal.
The victory brings Frosinone up to seventh place, giving them two-points of breathing room within the group of teams in the promotion playoff spots.
They will return to the field on Saturday with a visit to Ascoli. Novakovich is a likely starter for this game in place of the suspended Charpentier, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Notes
Anthony Fontana is still injured and did not suit up for Ascoli’s 3-1 road loss to Serie B first-place team US Lecce. The loss drops Ascoli out of the promotion playoff spots. They will try to turn things around on Saturday when they host Andrija Novakovich and Frosinone.
