Both of Venezia’s Americans were in the team’s starting lineup in their heavy loss to high-flying Atalanta, while Andrija Novakovich was a late substitute for Frosinone in their draw at Cremonese.
Atalanta 4 – 0 Venezia
Venezia head coach Paolo Zanetti opted to start both of his Americans for the first time this season in their visit to Atalanta on Tuesday, however there was little either of them could do to prevent the Winged Lions from slumping to their worst loss of the season.
In his just under one hour on the field, Busio put on an accurate passing display, completing over 90% of his 31 attempted passes, with one attempted shot, however fell victim, as the rest of his teammates, to a ruthless Atalanta attack that kept them on the back foot from start to finish.
Tessmann played the full game in the center of the park for the visitors and regularly ventured forward into attacking positions, however could have done better to prevent a pair of Atalanta’s goals.
The Goddess needed only seven minutes to open the scoring, when longtime Serie A stalwart Josip Ilicic threaded a pass between Tessmann’s leg on the right side of the box directly to Mario Pasalic in the middle for an easy finish.
Another of Atalanta’s veteran ex-pats was the orchestrator for the 2-0 lead five minutes later, with Colombian striker Luis Muriel hitting a perfectly weighted pass to Pasalic, who had slipped past Busio on a run into the area, for a low strike past Sergio Romero.
To their credit, Venezia did recover well, and while never looking dangerous, did hold off the formidable Atalanta attack until just over ten minutes into the second half.
This time, oft-rotated left back Giuseppe Pezzella was the key man after he wandered into an advanced position, drawing the defense’s attention his way before spotting his Dutch teammate Teun Koopmeiners with no opponent in sight just outside box. Tessmann was the nearest defender, however was unable to close down the space before Koopmeiners struck a low roller just inside the right upright, that left the woefully out-of-position Romero with no chance to even make an effort for the save.
Muriel nearly scored one of his own in the 61st minute when his six-yard shot bounced off the left upright, however was once again the setup man for Atalanta’s fourth goal approximately five minutes later.
This time the Colombian showed a bit of magical footwork to maintain possession near the endline on the left side, and picked out Pasalic in the middle for a well-taken shot on the turn in the midst of a crowd of defenders, completing his hat-trick for the final 4-0 score.
With none of the teams below them managing to take a win, Venezia are still in 16th place, five clear of the relegation spots. They will have little time to lick their wounds before they are back on the field, with a massive opportunity to bounce back at home against Hella Verona on Sunday.
US Cremonese 1 – 1 Frosinone Calcio
Andrija Novakovich came on late for Frosinone goalscorer Gabriel Charpentier on Tuesday night, however the team was unable to push past their hosts Cremonese in Serie B action.
Novakovich and Charpentier switched roles in this midweek game, with the American left on the bench from the start, and relieving the Congolese striker late in the second half.
After a scoreless first half, the hosts were first on the board ten minutes after the break, as Daniel Ciofani alertly headed in a ball that took a slight deflection off of a teammate’s head following a corner.
Only three minutes later Charpentier added another goal to his season’s growing total, with center back Federico Gatti advancing forward into the area and heading a cross in the way of the striker for a deflected finish to equalize.
Novakovich entered the game in the 73rd minute, however there were few chances on either side as the game eventually wound down to a draw.
Frosinone drop to seventh place with the loss, five points back from the automatic promotion spots but still within the group of teams vying for entry into the playoff. They are back in action on Saturday with an afternoon kickoff against Ternana.
Notes
Weston McKennie is recovering from a minor knee injury, and sat out Juventus’s 2-0 road win over Salernitana on Tuesday. Its unclear whether he’ll be available again on Sunday when they host Genoa.
Bryan Reynolds was an unused substitute for Roma on Wednesday as the team was shut out at Bologna in a 1-0 loss.
Giuseppe Barone was not in uniform for Ascoli on Tuesday in their 2-1 road win over Reggina.
