Forty-five good minutes, worth nothing
Venezia ran the first half. Chance after chance, a Basic goal chalked off, and a 0-0 scoreline at the interval that told you almost none of what had happened.
Then the restart undid all of it. Lecce scored almost as soon as the second half began, Gorter first, Tiago Gabriel after him. 0-2 on the opening day of Serie A, and the lagoon club left their own pitch without a goal.
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The visiting dugout knew the way to the dressing room
Eusebio Di Francesco managed Venezia during their last stint in the top flight. He came back to the same stadium in the away technical area and walked off with three points.
He made no pretence of neutrality afterwards. “I was welcomed very well by the club and by the president, there is still great respect and admiration, and here I still feel at home,” he said.
On the game itself he was specific. “Venezia started better than us, we made mistakes in build-up, but at half-time I changed the shape to close down the space we were giving Yeboah.”
Then a line aimed squarely at his own board. “We are short in every area, we need reinforcements, and I hope they arrive.”
Stroppa refuses to write it off
Giovanni Stroppa defended what his side produced before the break. “We had an extraordinary first half. It’s ridiculous to concede a goal a few moments into the second and in that way.”
He came back to the disallowed Basic goal as the hinge. “We lost our shape after that.”
The record is less interested in the first half. Venezia are back in Serie A and have started with a home defeat and no goal. The fixture list gives them roughly a week to think about it.
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