Serie B 22/23: Venezia 0-2 Benevento

After coming from behind to earn a win and a draw in their last two matches on the road, Venezia had a disappointing return home to Stadio Penzo on Saturday afternoon, as an opportunistic Benevento struck two second-half goals on the counterattack en route to a 0-2 win in Giornata 4 of the 2022/23 Serie B season.

Venezia manager Ivan Javorčić made three changes to the team from last weekend, with Aaron Connolly, Jack de Vries, and Antonio Candela making their first starts for the club — the former two being preferred to Dennis Johnsen and Nicholas Pierini in attack, the latter replacing the injured Francesco Zampano at right-back – after all three players made solid performances as substitutes in the 1-1 draw at Cittadella.

Connolly surely has been chomping at the bit, and he nearly put Venezia in front just three minutes into the match, cutting inside from the left flank and firing a powerful shot towards the far post that forced ‘keeper Alberto Paleari into a difficult save.

But that would be Venezia’s only chance of the first half, as a frustrating trend continued to play out.

For the third straight match, Venezia held a statistical edge in possession, yet struggled to play out of the back and into the opposition's end, evidenced by center-backs Pietro Ceccaroni and Przemysław Wiśniewski ranking first and fourth in completed passes per match in the league, respectively, while center-forward Joel Pohjanpalo has lacked service and registered a total of two shots (one on target) since his arrival.

Meanwhile, Venezia would concede the opening goal for the fourth straight match.

Benevento, in containing Venezia’s possession, grew emboldened in their pressing and countering, generating a total of five shots and six corners in the first half, and even if none of it was particularly threatening, they would continue to pester and eventually found a breakthrough early into the second half.

In similar circumstances to Sunday night, Benevento’s goal originated on the counter from a searching cross that didn’t even find a target, but nevertheless was enough to cause a problem. The in-swinging ball from the left flank was awkward to deal with, and when Ceccaroni arrived to head away, it fell kindly for striker Antonino La Gumina who was waiting nearby for a loose ball. Though he was quickly closed down, La Gumina got off a shot that would unfortunately ricochet off both Ridgeciano Haps and Ceccaroni and past Jesse Joronen, putting the visitors ahead in the 52nd minute. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective.

Venezia had battled back to score the next goal after going down in the previous three rounds, but they would not manage a response this afternoon.

Javorčić had already brought on winger Dennis Johnsen at half-time in place of de Vries, and the Norwegian was immediately active with his speed and direct play, but sustained pressure and incisiveness were still missing in the minutes before and after the goal.

In the 67th minute, Javorčić made a double substitution and switched his 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3, in order to overload the wings and better match Benevento’s 3-5-2, with right-back Candela and midfielder Domen Črnigoj being sacrificed, Michael Svoboda coming on as the third center-back, and Pierini returning to the attack after having been dropped, while Haps pushed up as a left wing-back and Johnsen became a makeshift right wing-back on either side of midfielders Luca Fiordilino and Michaël Cuisance.

In the 71st minute, Javorčić replaced Pohjanpalo with Novakovich. Four minutes later, Novakovich was presented with the best chance of the match, when Connolly sent a looping header into the box that was just begging for the 1.93-meter-tall American striker to finish, only for Paleari to make a heroic point-blank save.

Almost immediately, they were left to rue that missed opportunity.

In the 77th minute, Benevento struck again on the counter, threading the ball through Venezia’s right side before a pull-back to the top of the box for substitute Ilias Koutsoupias to drive past a helpless Joronen.

In the 87th minute, Javorčić made his final substitution, with Harvey St Clair taking up the right wing-back role, Johnsen moving back into the attack, and Connolly stepping off.

Pierini would have a chance deep into stoppage time, pouncing on a loose ball in the box but sending a sliding effort over the bar, and the match was over.

“We have to continue to build our team identity, and reduce collective and individual mistakes,” said Connolly, who was a bright spot in his full debut. “We have a roster with high-level players: I am absolutely confident that once we find ourselves, the results will come.”

Up next for Venezia is a trip to Ferrara to face SPAL on 11 September in Giornata 5 of the 2022/23 Serie B season.

Venezia 0-2 Benevento

Scorers: 52’ La Gumina, 77’ Koutsoupias

Venezia (4-3-3): Joronen, Candela (67’ Pierini), Wiśniewski, Ceccaroni, Haps, Črnigoj (66’ Svoboda), Fiordilino, Cuisance, de Vries (46’ Johnsen), Pohjanpalo (71’ Novakovich), Connolly (87’ St Clair)
Subs not used: Mäenpää, Bertinato, Modolo, Zabala, Andersen, Tessmann, Leal
Manager: Ivan Javorčić

Benevento (3-5-2): Paleari, Capellini, Glik, Veseli, Improta, Karić (76’ Koutsoupias), Acampora (82’ Kubica), Tello, Foulon (76’ Masciangelo), La Gumina (70’ Simy), Forte (81’ Ciano)
Subs not used: El Kaouakibi, Letizia, Farias, Manfredini, Leverbe, Pastina, Vokić
Manager: Fabio Caserta