Andrija Novakovich was the only American in action in Italy over the weekend in Frosinone’s heavy loss, as Gianluca Busio and Tanner Tessmann were left out of the action for nearly-relegated Venezia.
SPAL Ferrara 3 – 0 Frosinone
Andrija Novakovich started atop the Frosinone attack on Saturday afternoon, however was isolated and ineffective over his 75 minutes as the team was shut out at SPAL Ferrara.
The American only had 15 total touches during his time on the field, did take one shot that was blocked on its way towards goal, however only completed three of his nine passes in an overall lackluster performance that matched the rest of his team’s efforts.
SPAL’s Lorenzo Dickmann opened the scoring six minutes after the opening whistle with a fantastic volley from the edge of the area to just inside the left upright, then Marco Pinato made it 2-0 six minutes later when he smashed Luca Mora’s cutback from just beyond the penalty area to the right side.
Frosinone’s distant hopes to salvage anything from the game were put to rest in the 67th minute when Przemyslaw Szyminski was shown a second yellow for an unnecessary push to leave them on the back heel for the final 20-plus minutes.
After a relatively ineffective performance, Novakovich was pulled in the 74th minute for Alessio Zerbin, but it didn’t stop the hosts from adding a third, two minutes before full-time, although it was more of a gift from Frosinone keeper Stefano Minelli, who let go of a free kick by Salvatore Esposito, with the ball dropping over the line for the final 3-0 score.
The loss still leaves Frosinone in the final promotion playoff spot with one game left, although they still have some pressure to perform in their final regular-season game on Friday at home against fourth-place Pisa. They do lead ninth-place Perugia by three points in the race for the final spot, however with Perugia having the head-to-head advantage, they need at least a draw to guarantee their spot.
Notes
Neither Gianluca Busio nor Tanner Tessmann made it off of the Venezia bench on Sunday for their 2-1 loss at Juventus. Weston McKennie is still recovering from a broken foot and did not suit up for the hosts. Venezia are dead last and seeing their slim chances for survival evaporating. Juventus, on the other hand, locked in their spot in next season’s Champions League with the win, although only have a microscopically narrow path of winning the Scudetto.
Anthony Fontana watched Ascoli’s 1-0 road win over Cremonese from the bench. The result guarantees the team a place in the post-season promotion playoff regardless of what happens when they host Ternana on Friday.
