Serie B 22/23: Venezia 2-2 Parma

Venezia staged a late comeback at Stadio Penzo on Monday afternoon, scoring two goals in the final 20 minutes to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw with visitors Parma in Giornata 19 of the 2022/23 Serie B season.

The result brings Venezia to the midpoint of the season on the upswing, with just one loss in their last six matches after a rough start.

From the opening whistle, both sides were eager to get forward. In the 31st minute, midfielder Domen Črnigoj nearly opened the scoring after a clever flick from Pietro Ceccaroni, but his close-range shot was deflected on its way to goal and ‘keeper Leandro Chichizola was in position to make the stop. A minute later, Parma threatened at the opposite end, when forward Dennis Man found himself one-on-one with ‘keeper Jesse Joronen, but Joronen repelled Man’s shot right back to him, and Ceccaroni cleared the ball off the line on the follow-up effort.

In a free-flowing match, it seemed goals were inevitable, and Parma would break through twice just on either side of half-time.

In the 45th minute, when Parma’s veteran attacker Franco Vázquez played a sharp cross to the near post, midfielder Simon Sohm took a heavy touch out of bounds and toppled to the ground, but a VAR review showed contact from Tanner Tessmann on Sohm, and the referee awarded a penalty, which was converted by Vázquez.

After the break, Parma would double the advantage just five minutes into the second half. In the 50th minute, Sohm got off a backheel that sent Vázquez on goal. After fighting off center-back Luca Ceppitelli, Vázquez’s slight feints made Joronen dive early, giving him a window to finish from a tight angle.

Venezia were suddenly facing a 0-2 deficit, but after a tactical tweak from manager Paolo Vanoli, the comeback was on.

In the 63rd minute, Vanoli sacrificed a defender in Cepptelli to switch from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3, with Andrija Novakovich and Nicholas Pierini coming on to flank Joel Pohjanpalo in attack. It would prove the right button to push, with Venezia quickly pulling one back.

In the 70th minute, Pierini ripped a powerful shot on goal that was straight at Chichizola but the ‘keeper would struggle to parry the ball away and Pohjanpalo was there to punch in the rebound for his sixth goal in his last seven matches, giving him a team-leading seven goals on the season.

After Joronen stood tall on a point-blank shot from Man to keep Venezia within striking distance, the equalizer came.

In the 82nd minute, Pohjanpalo pulled the trigger on a first-time shot from just outside of the box and scuffed his effort, but the ball fortuitously rolled through Parma’s defense and Pierini pounced on it with a scrappy poke to bring Venezia level, with the match ultimately ending in a 2-2 draw.

Venezia close out the first round of the season hovering just above the relegation zone but still only six points out from the promotion playoffs, and they will return to action in the new year with a trip to Genoa on 16 January in Giornata 20 of the 2022/23 Serie B season.

Venezia 2-2 Parma

Scorers: 45’ Vázquez (P), 50’ Vázquez, 70’ Pohjanpalo, 82’ Pierini

Venezia (3-5-2): Joronen, Svoboda, Cepptelli (63’ Pierini), Ceccaroni, Zampano, Črnigoj (74’ Cuisance), Tessmann, Andersen (46’ Busio), Haps (74’ Candela), Johnsen (63’ Novakovich), Pohjanpalo
Subs not used: Bertinato, Mäenpää, Modolo, Zabala, St Clair, Fiordilino
Manager: Vanoli

Parma (4-5-1): Chichizola, Del Prato, Osorio, Valenti, Oosterwolde, Man (79’ Camara), Sohm (57’ Estévez), Bernabé (79’ Benedyczak), Jurić, Tutino (79’ Bonny), Vázquez
Subs not used: Balogh, Romagnoli, Hainut, Coulibaly, Circati, Corvi, Borriello, Zagaritis
Manager: Porta