The Napoli vs Frosinone Calcio Coppa Italia round of 16 fixture at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples produced anything but shock waves on Tuesday night.
Just when it looked like Walter Mazzarri's side are getting back to fine form after consecutive wins in the last few weeks, the shocking loss to Frosinone has dealt a big blow to the team's resurgence.
Second half goals from Enzo Barrenechea, Guiseppe Caso, Walid Cheddira, and Abdou Harroui gave Frosinone a surprise 4-0 win over Napoli to send the Italian champions out of the Coppa Italia and Eusebio Di Francesco's side into the quarter-finals.
The inspiration behind last season’s stunning league title triumph, Napoli’s attacking stars started from the bench, the likes of Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Matteo Politano, a decision by coach Mazzari which proved costly for the Azzurri.
Napoli vs Frosinone: How it happened
After a series of wasted half chances in a first-half that ended goalless, coach Mazzari sought inspiration from the bench as he brought on Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia in the 63rd minute.
However, just two minutes after the duo were introduced, Frosinone scored against the run of play as Barrenechea opened the scoring in the 65th minute when he finished off a brilliant assist from Luca Garritano to send the home fans into utter shock.
The visitors grew in confidence and continued their dangerous forrays into the Azzurri's area. Five minutes later, the home supporters suffered another shock as Caso doubled the lead for Di Francesco's men.
With the game slipping out of the graps of Napoli, Mazzari threw in further attacking threat as Politano was introduced in the 73rd minute to try and bolster the team's chances upfront.
Nonetheless, Frosinone held on to their lead until the end of regulation time, and still had the luxury of scoring twice in added time from Cheddira and Harroui to hand Napoli their third defeat in December.
What the win means for Frosinone
The win ensures that Frosinone advances into the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia where they'll hope to meet a favorable opponent that guarantees them a place in the last four.
The performance from the Canaries is one that will live for a long time in the minds of the fans who witnessed their team thrash Napoli in a spirited second half where the players showcased ruthlessness in front of the goal.
The emphatic win will prepare Di Francesco's men for their next big game against Juventus on Saturday, where they'll be eager to produce yet another memorable encounter for their fans.
On the other hand, Mazzarri's men will look to get over the humiliating loss just in time before their trip to Stadio Olimpico next Saturday to face Roma in round 17 of the Serie A season.
Napoli vs Frosinone confirmed lineups
Napoli: Gollini; Zanoli, Natan, Østigård, Rui, Gaetano, Demme, Cajuste, Lindstrøm, Someone, Raspadori.
Subs: Contini, Meret, Jesus, D'Avino, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Lobotka, Kvaratskhelia, Osimhen, Politano, Russo, Zerbin.
Frosinone: Cerofolini; Lusuardi, Monterisi, Okoli, Bourabia, Caso, Berrenechea, Brescianini, Kvernadze, Cheddira, Garritano.
Subs: Frattali, Turati, Romagnoli, Lirola, Soulé, Gelli, Lulic, Harroui, Ibrahimovic, Bidaoui, Jorge, Báez.
This article was most recently revised and updated 12 months ago
