Venezia climbed off the bottom of Serie A on Friday night as Kike Perez's superb long-range winner sealed a 2-1 victory over Udinese at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, spoiling Paolo Zanetti's first game in charge of the visitors against his former club.
This was a genuine relegation six-pointer. Venezia began the night last on three points from ten games, with Udinese one place and two points above them, and after a goalless first half the game exploded into life with three goals in twelve second-half minutes — Toma Basic's opener, a Matias Moreno own goal, and then Perez's strike into the top corner that decided it.
A Tense First Half at the Penzo
Venezia started on the front foot, as Football Italia reported, with Antoine Hainaut forcing an early save from Nigeria goalkeeper Maduka Okoye inside the area. Nicolo Zaniolo wasted a good chance at the other end when he found space in the box and shot wide, while Juan Jesus headed a corner just over and Pasquale Mazzocchi curled a long-range effort inches wide for the hosts.
Filip Stankovic kept out Jurgen Ekkelenkamp for Udinese, and Hainaut had the best chance of the half when he collected a rebound and fired over. It stayed goalless at the break, but the pattern was clear: Davide Nicola's side, who had lost their previous three without scoring after last weekend's narrow defeat at Como, believed this was the night their season turned.
Three Goals in Twelve Minutes
Udinese should have led early in the second half. Keinan Davis went one-on-one with Stankovic inside the six-yard box, but the Venezia goalkeeper made a fine save — and it proved costly within minutes.
Venezia went ahead in the 53rd minute when Hainaut crossed from the right and Basic finished low into the bottom corner. The lead lasted only three minutes. Moreno diverted the ball into his own net, and the equaliser stood after a long VAR check on Zaniolo's position in the build-up.
The winner, on 65 minutes, was worthy of deciding any game. Perez picked up Mazzocchi's pass and sent a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top corner, leaving Okoye with no chance. Mazzocchi was forced off injured soon afterwards, Stankovic saved well from substitute Giorgi Chakvetadze, and there was late heartbreak for Nigeria striker Akor Adams, who played the full 90 minutes for Venezia and had a goal ruled out for offside with nine minutes left, as Complete Sports noted in its report on the two Nigerian internationals on opposite sides.
So What: Bottom Place Changes Hands
The consequences are stark for both clubs. Venezia's second win of the season — their only previous victory came against Napoli in Nicola's debut last month — lifts them off the bottom to 19th on six points, a point behind Monza. It also ends a three-match losing streak for the survival specialist appointed in mid-October after Giovanni Stroppa's departure.
For Udinese, the crisis deepens. They have now taken one point from their last nine league games in the run that cost Kosta Runjaic his job — a sequence that included the 5-2 home thrashing by Roma — and Zanetti, appointed earlier this week and returning to the club he once coached, starts with defeat and his new side bottom on five points.
Both teams now pause for the international break before difficult returns on 22 November: Venezia visit Juventus, while Udinese travel to Bologna. Zanetti has two weeks to find goals and belief; Nicola has proof his side can still fight.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: this is the kind of win that can quietly save a season. Venezia were the worst starters in Serie A, but they out-fought and out-believed an Udinese side in freefall — and in Perez they produced the one moment of real quality in a scrap. Zanetti's problem is not the fixture list, it is momentum: nine games, one point, and now bottom place. The break has come at the right time for him, and at exactly the wrong time for Nicola.
Can Venezia build on this win and climb out of the relegation zone — or are Udinese still the more likely of the two to survive? Let us know in the comments.
