Andrija Novakovich was powerless to stop Venezia’s continued drop in the Serie B standings, while Weston McKennie’s absence for Juventus will be shorter than initially expected.
Como 1 – 0 Venezia FC
The downward spiral continued for Venezia, with their fifth straight game without a win putting them deeper into crisis ahead of the arrival of a new coach.
Andrija Novakovich was the only one of Venezia’s yanks to take the field on Sunday, playing the full game at the front of the attack. As a possible sign of Venezia’s overall flat play, he only managed 24 touches over 90-plus minutes, completed 60% of his 15 passing attempts, drew one foul and managed to take one shot.
Gianluca Busio, Tanner Tessmann and Jack de Vries all stayed glued to the Venezia bench, while Patrick Leal was not with the first team.
Following a scoreless opening hour, the introduction of erstwhile Spanish superstar Cesc Fabregas as a part of a 63rd-minute triple-switch for Como energized the team.
Two minutes later, Vittorio Parigini popped a hopeful cross from the right edge of the area towards the middle, where Alessandro Bellemo was waiting to take a powerful, one-timed shot that took a slight deflection off of Niki Mäenpää’s fingertips on the way into goal.
Como had the taste of blood in their mouths, and were perhaps unlucky to not increase their lead over the final half-hour, most frustratingly when Alberto Cerri’s late chip was called back for offside.
Nevertheless, they easily held on for the win. The result drops Venezia down to 19th in the 20-team Serie B standings. They announced former Spartak Moscow manager and long-time assistant Paolo Vanoli as their new coach. His first test will be on Saturday when they host second-place Reggina.
Notes
Sergiño Dest is currently being rested for AC Milan due to supposed adductor fatigue, and missed their 2-1 home win over Spezia on Saturday night.
Weston McKennie is recovering from an injury and was not available for Juventus as they defeated Inter by a 2-0 margin on Sunday night. Following a return to training on Monday, he should be available for their upcoming game on Thursday at Hellas.
Anthony Fontana was nowhere to be found for Ascoli on Saturday afternoon for their 1-1 road draw against Brescia.
