Venice-Pisa: result, news, match report
Strong signals were expected from the trip to the lagoon. Very few have arrived. The team showed more compactness and better clarity once they undeservedly went under in the score. However, a victory was also expected that would chase away the black clouds that have been gravitating for too many weeks on the Nerazzurri horizon, and instead Gliozzi and his companions return from Venice with a miserable point that is of very little use. Pisa ‘rises’ to 2, still sadly lonely in last place, and it is impossible not to comply with the request of the more than 500 who have followed the team in Veneto today: “We deserve more”.
In the first, the two teams put aside the anxieties dictated by a negative start to the season and seek maneuvers and geometries to separate the balance. Venezia relies on the double striker Novakovich-Pohjanpalo resorting more to verticalizations, Pisa responds with a fairly fluid game that involves all the players. The orange and green immediately knock on the door defended by Nicolas, but the post rejects Fiordilino’s conclusion. The Pisa responds before the quarter of an hour with Sibilli: gored on the cross of Marin which ends very high. So we start without jolts towards the interval, when the game has a start thanks to the inventions of two singles. First it is Novakovich who gets rid of Canestrelli’s marking in the area and then with his right hand sends the ball to the farthest corner of the goalposts. Then Gliozzi burns Ceccaroni on time, flies with power towards the goal and strikes Maenpaa out for the 1-1. In the second half we expect a refreshed and reinvigorated Pisa, and instead the Nerazzurri come out trembling from the locker rooms and live twenty-five minutes of pure suffering. It takes all of Nicolas’ best reflexes to keep the score unchanged. The Brazilian first goalkeeper exalts himself on Ceccaroni’s header, then does even better on Pohjanpalo’s razor from close range. Finally Ionita leaves his teammates outnumbered: two naive yellow cards, in particular the second, cost him the expulsion. Maran from the bench throws fresh forces on the field to maintain compactness and race in defense of the point, Javorcic closes with as many attackers as possible but does not go beyond a series of corners that are defused without danger by the defense of Pisa.
The match
Without appeal. Whoever wins continues the race, whoever comes out greets him: the challenge between disappointed that is staged in the lagoon is already decisive for Mr. Rolando Maran and his colleague Ivan Javorcic. Despite the circumstantial sentences on the eve, the Nerazzurri coach knows he must make an immediate change to the team’s path: a point in five days is too meager a spoils even for the less optimistic forecasts at the beginning of the season. Serving a victory to restore enthusiasm to the group and the environment and to chase away the anxieties and fears accumulated in recent weeks.
Maran finally has Gliozzi at the center of the attack, supported by Sibilli and Tramoni. In the middle of the field Nagy returns to the control room and in defense there is Canestrelli to team up with Barba. It is Venice that starts strong and at 8 ‘swears against bad luck. Candela runs away to Beruatto in the side lane and serves Fiordilino at the edge of the area. The midfielder beats with the right almost with a sure shot but hits the post to Nicolas beaten. The Nerazzurri responded immediately by breaking through on the wing with the combination between Tramoni and Marin: the captain’s cross was picked up in the area by Sibilli, but his inzu ended high. He finds the goal instead of Beruatto in the 14th minute: the full-back collects the serve of Tramoni’s corner and from the edge of the area calls for Maenpaa.
The central phase of the first fraction does not respect the premises: the two teams face each other with intensity and attention in the middle of the field and it follows that the maneuver at the offensive level stagnates. The Venezia, strong of the double center forward, seeks more verticality in the combinations. Pisa advances with a more united maneuver involving more midfielders and attacking midfielders. At 34 ‘, at the end of a discreet dialogue, Sibilli enters the area from the right and kicks at the goal: very high left. Just when Pisa seems to have taken the reins of the game, however, the opponents break the balance. The network is a piece of Novakovich’s skill, who receives the ball inside the penalty area, unbalances Canestrelli with a feint of the body and with a lightning right he sends the ball to the corner of the posts. 1-0 at 40 ‘.
The Nerazzurri are not there and push on the accelerator in search of a draw before the break. Mission accomplished by Gliozzi, literally overflowing in the 44th minute on Calabresi’s long throw. The center forward takes the time to Ceccaroni and rushes towards the Venetian gate. The central tries in every way to stem the number 9, who resists and then crosses low shot: Maenpaa can do nothing, he is 1-1. The Venezia comes out better from the locker room and at the start of the second half goes very close to the second advantage. Ceccaroni anticipates everyone on Andersen’s corner and heads towards the far post: Nicolas exalts himself by flying to deflect again for a corner. Andersen in pastel again and again Ceccaroni inzucca: on the trajectory intervenes the Modo who is unable to correct in goal from a few steps.
The Nerazzurri try to catch up but they have to thank Nicolas again when at 62 ‘it blocks the road to Pohjanpalo. The duet with Andersen on the edge of the area unmarks the Finn who kicks low: the Brazilian goalkeeper takes refuge in the corner with his foot. It is the most complicated moment of the match for the Nerazzurri, who struggle a bit to contain all the game plots of the hosts. Ionita pays the pricewho remedies two quite naive yellow in just twenty minutes: the Moldovan is like this sent off in 71 ‘. Maran runs for cover by redesigning the team at 4-4-1: out Marin and Sibilli, in Piccinini and Mastinu. Then Cissè and Tourè also go into the fray for the tight ending. Venice with many men on the closure of the offensive trocar, but opportunities do not come anymore. The Nerazzurri defense holds up without excessive worries.
The Scoreboard
Venice-Pisa 1-1
Venice (3-5-2): Maenpaa; Ceccaroni, Modolo (92 ‘Pierini), Wisniewski; Candela (81 ‘Johnsen), Busio, Fiordilino, Andersen (65’ Haps), Ullmann (81 ‘Cheryshev); Novakovich, Pohjanpalo. All. Javorcico
Pisa (4-3-2-1): Nicolas; Calabresi, Canestrelli, Barba, Beruatto; Ionita, Nagy, Marin (77 ‘Mastinu); Tramoni (85 ‘Tourè), Sibilli (77’ Piccinini); Gliozzi (85 ‘Cissè). All. Marano
Goals: 40 ‘Novakovich (V), 44’ Gliozzi (P)
Bookings: Marin (P), Barba (P), Wisniewski (V), Ionita (P), Ceccaroni (V), Calabresi (P), Modolo (V)
Notes: referee Daniele Perenzoni; corners 10-1 (2-1); 0 ‘and 2’ recovery; in the 71st minute Ionita (P) sent off for a double yellow card