Serie B 22/23: Palermo 0-1 Venezia

Coming out of the two-week international break for manager Paolo Vanoli’s second match on the bench, Venezia followed an encouraging performance their last time out against high-flying Reggina with their first victory under the new tactician to bring a six-match winless skid to a halt, defeating hosts Palermo by the score of 0-1 in Giornata 14 of the 2022/23 Serie B season, with Joel Pohjanpalo punching in the goal and Jesse Joronen heroically keeping the team’s first clean sheet of the campaign.

Staying compact and then springing into attack with purpose, Venezia controlled the play in the opening 45 minutes. After registering a season-high 10 first-half shots in their most recent match, Vanoli’s men returned with just as much energy and eclipsed that mark with 11 first-half shots on Sunday night, while keeping 58 percent possession with slick passing under the pouring rain at Stadio Renzo Barbera.

In the absence of regular left-wingback Ridgeciano Haps, Francesco Zampano switched over from the opposite wing and would play a key tactical role in Venezia’s transition to attack, pushing high and wide with overlapping runs that kept Palermo backpedaling.

After a few half-chances fell to Domen Črnigoj, Tanner Tessmann, and Magnus Kofod Andersen, Venezia kept on turning the screw and it felt like a goal was inevitable, but they would be denied by two spectacular saves from ‘keeper Mirko Pigliacelli just before half-time.

In the 43rd minute, Zampano aggressively forced a turnover at the back and Črnigoj arrived to unleash a thundering drive on goal that Pigliacelli incredibly kept out with strong hands at full stretch. Two minutes later, Črnigoj galloped down the right side and picked out striker Dennis Johnsen, who rounded a defender inside the box and fired a firm shot to the far post only to see Pigliacelli step up with a reflex kick save, and the match would remain scoreless going into the break.

In the second half, Venezia forged ahead — in contrast to the Reggina match, where they eventually ran out of gas after an enterprising first half — until they finally broke through.

After Pohjanpalo was stopped by Pigliacelli in the 53rd minute from a Johnsen-led counterattack, the Finnish international striker would get another chance in the 65th minute and make no mistake. When a long-range shot was deflected through traffic, Pohjanpalo was there to pounce on the ball and thump it past Pigliacelli.

After scoring the opening goal of a match just twice through the first 12 rounds of the season, Venezia have now grabbed the lead in two out of two matches under Vanoli.

From there, things got hairy. Just two minutes later, Palermo earned a penalty from a handball in the box, but facing striker Matteo Brunori and the gut-wrenching prospect of 65 minutes of dominance being wiped out straight away, the Finnish international ‘keeper Joronen would make a phenomenal save diving to his left, before Brunori skied the rebound.

As the hosts pushed and prodded further, they would fashion a glorious chance in the 72nd minute, when a looping cross from the right wing dropped into former Venezia winger Francesco Di Mariano unmarked in front of goal, but Joronen came to the rescue again with a point-blank save.

On the strength of Joronen’s performance, Venezia would manage to see out the result, earning their first win since defeating Cagliari in Sardinia on 1 October.

“Since I arrived, I have tried to give this team an idea of how to play, and this is a small step forward, especially in managing the moments of suffering,” said Vanoli after the match. “Facing Palermo was not easy, especially with such an experienced coach in the league, which is why being able to hold our own in the difficult moments is crucial.”

On the heels of their best start-to-finish display of the season, Venezia return home to welcome Ternana at Stadio Penzo in Giornata 15 of the 2022/23 Serie B season.

Palermo 0-1 Venezia

Scorers: 65’ Pohjanpalo

Palermo (4-3-3): Pigliacelli, Matějů, Nedelcearu, Bettella (90’ Devetak), Sala (76’ Saleri), Segre (82’ Damiani), Gomes (82’ Štulac), Broh (76’ Floriano), Valente, Di Mariano, Brunori
Subs not used: Pierozzi, Accardi, Crivello, Massolo, Vido, Peretti, Lancini
Manager: Corini

Venezia (3-5-2): Joronen, Wiśniewski, Ceppitelli, Ceccaroni, Candela (79’ Ullmann), Črnigoj (60’ Cheryshev) (72’ Busio), Tessmann, Andersen, Zampano, Johnsen (79’ Pierini), Pohjanpalo (79’ Novakovich)
Subs not used: Bertinato, Sperandio, Modolo, Svoboda, Zabala, St Clair, Fiordilino
Manager: Vanoli