Frosinone moved into the Serie A top four with a thrilling 4-2 win over Sassuolo on Friday, with Italy U21 forward Antonio Raimondo scoring three times.
The result was an emphatic response from Massimiliano Alvini’s side after their 3-0 defeat by Napoli in their previous league fixture. Frosinone had made an excellent start to the campaign with victories against Fiorentina, Venezia and Como, form which earned Alvini the Serie A coach of the month award for September.
Sassuolo, meanwhile, have endured an inconsistent opening to the 2026-27 season. They drew 1-1 with Milan last weekend, lost 2-1 to Monza the week before, defeated Juventus 3-2 and drew 2-2 with Bologna.
Frosinone took the lead inside nine minutes after Sassuolo were caught attempting to build from the back. Arijanet Muric passed to Darryl Bakola inside the Neroverdi penalty area, but the midfielder was dispossessed and the loose ball reached Giacomo Calo, who fired into the roof of the net from close range.
Bakola quickly made amends. He won possession to halt another Frosinone attack before sending a first-time pass over the defence for Domenico Berardi. The Italy forward ran through unchallenged, rounded Lorenzo Palmisani and finished into an empty net from a tight angle to make it 1-1 after 15 minutes.
Frosinone restored their advantage 11 minutes later when Muric failed to claim a cross at the edge of the six-yard box. The goalkeeper spilled the ball and Raimondo reacted first, poking it over the line from close range.
Raimondo had been named Serie A rising star of the month for September before kick-off, and he doubled his tally after another defensive error. Cas Odenthal’s weak backwards header caused confusion, Muric was unable to take control and Raimondo anticipated the bounce before rolling the ball into an unguarded goal.
Sassuolo reduced the deficit before half-time. Kristian Thorstvedt exchanged passes with Sebastiano Esposito, taking three defenders out of the move, before the Denmark midfielder raced clear and beat Palmisani one-on-one in the 37th minute.
Muric then denied Raimondo at his near post immediately after the restart, while he also produced a strong one-handed save to keep out Romano Schmid’s effort towards the top corner five minutes into the second half. Schmid is still waiting for his first Serie A goal.
Raimondo completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute. Giorgi Kvernadze delivered a cross during the second phase of a corner, and Fares Ghedjemis’ header across goal forced Muric into another save. The ball fell to Raimondo, who finished from close range to seal the points.
Frosinone now have 13 points from their first seven matches since returning to the top flight and sit fourth. Sassuolo remain 11th on eight points, with nine other matches still left to be played this season.
The scorers were Caio for Frosinone in the ninth minute, Berardi for Sassuolo in the 15th, Raimondo in the 26th, 30th and 57th, and Thorstvedt in the 37th.
