Venezia stun Napoli as Nicola's first game yields immediate reward
Akor Adams scored and Filip Stankovic saved a Kevin De Bruyne penalty as Davide Nicola began life as Venezia coach with a 1-0 win over Napoli.
Venezia beat Napoli 1-0 at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on Saturday, handing new coach Davide Nicola a winning start built around a second-half Akor Adams goal and a string of saves from goalkeeper Filip Stankovic, including a stop on a Kevin De Bruyne penalty, Football Italia reported.
Nicola took charge for the first time after Venezia sacked Giovanni Stroppa, whose side had lost all seven matches this season across Serie A and the Coppa Italia. Several players were unavailable for the new coach, among them Gianluca Busio, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Marin Sverko, Bartol Franjic, Thierry Correia and Andrea Adorante. Former Napoli men Juan Jesus and Pasquale Mazzocchi both faced their old club.
Napoli arrived with heavy legs and a thinned-out squad. Massimiliano Allegri's side had lost 3-1 away to Villarreal in the Champions League in midweek, and he opted to rest Kevin De Bruyne and Rasmus Hojlund from the start. David Neres, Antonio Vergara, Costantino Favasuli and Alessandro Buongiorno were all injured, while Alisson Santos, Matias Olivera and Frank Zambo Anguissa were only fit enough for the bench.
How Adams broke the deadlock
The game's only goal arrived four minutes into the second half. Simon Sohm sent a long ball over the top for Adams, who muscled Amir Rrahmani off the ball, cut inside and saw his shot take a deflection off a Napoli defender that wrong-footed Alex Meret. It was the decisive moment in a match where Napoli otherwise dominated territory and chances without finding a way through.
Before that, Napoli had created the better openings without making them count. Lorenzo Lucca failed to connect with a low Giovane cross, Sam Beukema saw an attempt blocked by Matias Moreno's face, and Amir Rrahmani headed over a corner only for Ridgeciano Haps to get in the way from close range. Venezia, for their part, had threatened early through an Adams effort off a Benoit Badiashile error and a Giovane shot that flew wide.
De Bruyne's missed penalty and Stankovic's night
Allegri turned to his bench once the deficit was in place, sending on De Bruyne, Hojlund and Alisson Santos together at the break of the second half. The introduction of Hojlund nearly brought an immediate leveller, but Juan Jesus produced a goal-line block to deny his former teammate after an Alisson Santos cutback.
Napoli's best chance to equalise came from the spot. Moreno brought down Hojlund with a clumsy challenge, and De Bruyne stepped up to take the resulting penalty. His effort was weak enough for Stankovic to smother it on the line, extinguishing Napoli's clearest route back into the match.
Stankovic was repeatedly called upon after that miss. He flew to tip a Stanislav Lobotka curling effort away from the top corner and later got down to palm an Alisson Santos low drive around his near post. Napoli also had a volley from Alisson Santos cannon off Scott McTominay from close range, while Albion Rrahmani was denied in behind after Alisson Santos tracked back to slow him down, allowing Meret to make a save at the other end.
A lopsided scoreline that reflects a one-sided game
The match statistics tell a story of Napoli territorial control without penetration. Venezia had just 29 percent of possession to Napoli's 71 percent, and were outshot nine attempts to 29, with only four shots on target against Napoli's ten. Those numbers describe a Venezia side that defended deep, absorbed pressure and relied on a rapid transition and a moment of individual strength from Adams to produce the only goal that mattered.
For Napoli, the pattern points to a side that struggled to convert dominance into clear-cut chances until the introductions at the restart, and then could not beat a goalkeeper in exceptional form. The missed De Bruyne penalty compounds a difficult week that already included the Champions League defeat in Villarreal.
For Venezia, the result offers Nicola an immediate platform after replacing a coach removed following a run of seven straight losses. The victory ends that winless sequence and gives the new regime a result to build from as the club looks to climb away from the bottom of the form table.