Frosinonevs
SassuoloThere are afternoons when the scoreline doesn't match the possession graphic, and Friday at Stadio Benito Stirpe was one of them. Sassuolo finished with 58 percent of the ball and still went home having conceded four. Frosinone, scrappy and direct and clearly unbothered by being outpassed, turned the first half into something close to chaos — and Antonio Raimondo was right at the center of it.
Giacomo Calo opened things up in the 9th minute, and Frosinone looked comfortable early. Sassuolo answered quickly: Domenico Berardi, set up by Darryl Bakola, leveled in the 15th. For a few minutes it felt like the even contest our pre-match read had called — neither side with a clear edge, the game genuinely open.
Then Raimondo happened.
He put Frosinone back in front in the 26th minute, and before anyone had properly settled, he scored again in the 30th. Four minutes, two goals, match turned. En qué lío se encontraba Sassuolo — chasing a two-goal deficit before the half hour was even done, despite controlling large stretches of possession. Kristian Thorstvedt pulled one back for the visitors in the 37th, which at least gave the second half some shape, but the damage was already done.
The Second Half Verdict
Sassuolo came out after the break needing two and pressing with the ball — 466 passes on the night, 80 percent accuracy — but Frosinone's goalkeeper was equal to it, finishing with six saves. The home side, working with just 333 passes and a 70 percent completion rate, didn't need to be tidy. They needed one more goal, and Raimondo provided it in the 57th minute to complete his hat trick and effectively end the contest.
The final numbers tell the contradiction plainly:
- Frosinone: 41.9% possession, 21 shots, 10 on target, 6 saves
- Sassuolo: 58.1% possession, 14 shots, 6 on target, 4 saves
Frosinone had more shots, more shots on target, and fewer saves to make despite seeing less of the ball. Cabal, that's the efficiency gap that decided this one.
Kieron Bowie picked up a late yellow in the 82nd minute for Sassuolo, but by then it was a footnote.
Our pre-match read called this too close to split, and for about fifteen minutes it was. Then Raimondo took over and Frosinone made it look straightforward. Sassuolo will feel the sting of this one — not because they were outplayed across ninety minutes, but because they were outscored in a first half they should have managed better. The question now is whether their possession-heavy approach holds up against sides willing to sit, absorb, and punish on the counter. Friday suggested it doesn't always.
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