Serie A 21/22: Cagliari 1-1 Venezia

At the tail end of a taxing stretch of four matches in 13 days, Venezia traveled down to Sardinia to take on Cagliari on Friday night. After falling behind to a first-half goal, and struggling to create chances for most of the match, Venezia faced the daunting prospect of giving away three points to a direct rival for Serie A survival as the clock ticked on to 90 minutes. But the arancioneroverdi never let up, and their dogged effort would be rewarded when 19-year-old emerging star Gianluca Busio drove in a shot through traffic to level the match at 1-1 in stoppage time, ultimately rescuing a point and delivering the team’s second consecutive come-from-behind result.

Venezia manager Paolo Zanetti maintained the 4-4-2 formation that his team deployed to earn a point against Torino on Monday night in Giornata 6, sticking with Dennis Johnsen and David Okereke as a strike partnership and making four changes to the team, as Mattia Aramu and Ethan Ampadu — both of whom made an impact as substitutes against Torino — played from the start, while Tyronne Ebuehi came in at right-back and Pasquale Mazzocchi switched over to left-back.

But Venezia were a bit disjointed early on, and Cagliari would open the scoring on a lightning-quick counter-attack. In the 19th minute, Răzvan Marin stripped Busio and took off down the pitch before passing off to teammate Nahitan Nández, as Cagliari were running at the suddenly disorganized Venezia backline with numbers. Nández laid the ball off to Uruguayan compatriot Martín Cáceres on the right wing, and Cáceres lofted a cross into Senegal international striker Keita Baldé Diao, who was unmarked in the box, to head in past Niki Mäenpää.

In the 27th minute, Venezia finally threatened Cagliari's goal, when Ebuehi sent a looping cross to the back post and Johnsen struck well on the volley, but the Norwegian was on a tight angle and ‘keeper Alessio Cragno stayed in front of it. By half-time, Venezia would have that lone shot on target, despite keeping 56 percent possession.

Zanetti made two changes at half-time, with Domen Črnigoj coming on for Sofian Kiyine (yellow card) in midfield and Thomas Henry taking over for Okereke in attack, as the team would shift into a 4-3-3 formation, with Henry as the target man, Aramu moving up into the attack on the right, and Johnsen shifting wide on the left wing.

Venezia would immediately gain some momentum, just without an immediate return.

In the 48th minute, Busio played a ball over the top of the defense and into space for Johnsen, who latched on and pinged a cross over to Črnigoj just inside the box, but his volley was sliced wide of the post. Two minutes later, Johnsen spotted Henry making a run into the box and and put in another cross, but the Frenchman’s header didn’t have enough power to trouble Cragno.

The two half-chances were encouraging signs, as Venezia’s attack seemed to be revitalized.

In the 54th minute, Ampadu (yellow card) came off for A.J. Vacca, who played well as the fulcrum in midfield and helped move the team forward. But the breakthrough wouldn’t come until Zanetti emptied his bench and made a key tactical change.

Between the 77th minute and 80th minute, Francesco Forte replaced Johnsen and Daan Heymans replaced Aramu. With the changes, Zanetti decided to push Busio high up the pitch for the first time this season. Indeed, they would prove to be the right buttons to push, with Forte, Heymans, and Busio eventually combining to bring Venezia on level terms.

In the 92nd minute, Forte, with his back to goal, took a feed from Črnigoj on the turn and slipped in Heymans on the right side. Heymans had the awareness to spot Busio's run into the box and played it first-time neatly into the path of the teenage American international. Busio took a touch and fired at goal, and although the shot struck Cáceres’s arm on the way, it had enough power to get through and cross the goal line.

It may be early, just seven rounds into the season, but it was a critical point for Venezia, and sends the team into the international break on the back of two encouraging results. Coming out of the break, Venezia will host Fiorentina at Stadio Penzo on 18 October.

Cagliari 1-1 Venezia

Scorers: Keita Baldé 19’, Busio 90+2’

Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno, Cáceres, Godín, Carboni (Altare 87’), Nández, Marin, Strootman (Grassi 87’), Deiola (Zappa 72’), Lykogiannis, Keita Baldé (Pavoletti 66’), João Pedro

Subs not used: Aresti, Bellanova, Pereiro, Oliva, Radunović

Coach: Walter Mazzarri

Venezia (4-4-2): Mäenpää, Ebuehi, Svoboda, Ceccaroni, Mazzocchi, Kiyine (Črnigoj 46’), Busio, Ampadu (Vacca 55’), Aramu (Heymans 77’), Johnsen (Forte 80’), Okereke (Henry 46’)

Subs not used: Molinaro, Tessmann, Fiordilino, Bjarkason, Caldara, Peretz, Neri

Coach: Paolo Zanetti