Playoffs: Cittadella 0-1 Venezia

On just two days rest following a grueling battle in Puglia to get through Lecce in the semifinals, Venezia headed into the neighboring province of Padova to take on Cittadella in the first leg of the Serie B promotion playoff final on Sunday night. In a tight match with limited opportunities, Venezia seized their best chance — finished off by Francesco Di Mariano — and claimed a 0-1 win at Stadio Tombolato.

After playing every minute of the first three matches of the playoffs — including all 120 minutes against Chievo Verona — Youssef Maleh was unavailable due to suspension. Venezia manager Paolo Zanetti called on Jacopo Dezi to replace Maleh, and his only other change to the lineup was starting Dennis Johnsen at right wing ahead of Mattia Aramu.

From the outset, Cittadella controlled possession, but Venezia marked midfielder and leading scorer Federico Proia well. Proia had a free role behind strikers Frank Tsadjout and Enrico Baldini, but wasn’t able to find enough space to create for himself or his frontmen. Cittadella also tried to attack through left-back and leading assist man Daniele Donnarumma, but his crosses were repelled by a solid Venezia backline.

Venezia were content enough to let Cittadella keep possession early, confident they would eventually create their own chances, and gradually they started coming.

In the 11th minute, Venezia should have taken the lead. From a corner kick, Anthony Taugourdeau played a looping ball towards the back post, and Michael Svoboda rose to redirect it to the near post for Pietro Ceccaroni, who dove and headed at goal from point-blank range, but Cittadella ‘keeper Elhan Kastrati made a spectacular kick save.

Two minutes later, Cristian Molinaro crossed into the box, and after a sensational flick-up to control the ball, Francesco Forte pulled his volley just wide.

In the 29th minute, Francesco Di Mariano would cut in from the left wing and fire a rocket with his favored right foot, but the shot was palmed away to safety by Kastrati.

At the other end, it would take until the 43rd minute for Cittadella to test Nikki Mäenpää, when Baldini cut in from the left-wing and fired near-post, but his shot was covered easily by the Venezia ‘keeper.

Heading into halftime, Cittadella may have had the advantage in possession, but it was Venezia posing a consistent and increasing threat.

The break wouldn’t curb Venezia’s momentum, and early into the second half, they struck. In the 50th minute, when a Cittadella set-piece into the box was cleared, Venezia quickly took off on the counter. The ball broke for Domen Črnigoj in space, who spotted Johnsen making a darting run down the right wing. Upon collecting the pass, Johnsen danced around Donnarumma in midfield and was free to run in on goal. When Di Mariano made a central run, Johnsen cut the ball back, and Di Mariano fired first-time and with power, giving Kastrati no chance to react to the shot as it whizzed under his arms to give Venezia a 0-1 lead.

After the goal, Cittadella manager — and former Venezia player — Roberto Venturato would eventually replace Proia with Giacomo Beretta in the 72nd minute to go with three strikers in attack, and later made a triple switch to introduce two new box-to-box midfielders and a fresh forward, but none of his changes would meaningfully threaten Venezia’s grip on the match.

When defender Michele Cremonesi came on for Dezi in the 90th minute to give his side a three-man central defense, Zanetti was ready to take his 0-1 advantage back to Venice. After five minutes of stoppage time, Venezia had secured the win and one-goal lead in the two-legged tie.

Now, the math is simple. On Thursday night at Stadio Penzo, Venezia can win, draw, or even lose by a goal, and that will bring them back to Serie A for the first time in 19 years.