Venezia 2-1 Udinese result, stats and report

Venezia 2-1 Udinese. Write it down. A team that had lost four of their last five in Serie A went out on a Friday night and got the job done. The occasion demanded a response. They gave one.

Udinese came to the Penzo with 54 per cent of the ball across 90 minutes and seven corners to Venezia's three. They had more passes, more crosses, more dangerous attacks. They lost. That is football. That is what happens when you do not compete when it matters.

How It Unfolded

The goals came thick and fast in a twelve-minute spell after the break. Toma Bašić opened the scoring on 53 minutes with a left-foot finish, assisted by Antoine Hainaut. Four minutes later, Venezia doubled their lead when Udinese defender Matías Moreno turned the ball into his own net. It was 2-0 and the game looked settled.

Kike Pérez made it 2-0 on 65 minutes with another left-foot effort, assisted by Pasquale Mazzocchi, putting the tie firmly to bed. That was three goals in twelve minutes from the home side. Udinese managed one goal. The data says they had one big chance created and one big chance missed. That is their evening in two numbers.

Mazzocchi picked up a yellow card just before his assist, which is very much a midfielder's night. Gets booked, sets up a goal, gets hauled off. He was replaced by Ridgeciano Haps on 70 minutes. Udinese's Matteo Palma collected a yellow in stoppage time. Neither card changed anything meaningful.

Venezia's Work Rate Was the Difference

The thing is, Venezia had no business winning this on paper. Four losses in five games coming in. Two goals scored in those five matches. A side low on confidence and short on firepower. But they competed. That is the word. They competed.

Venezia won 16 tackles to Udinese's 10. They won 10 of those 16. They won 38 duels to Udinese's 33. They had 11 successful headers to Udinese's 8. The basics. Fight for the ball. Win your duel. Do your job. It is not complicated.

Their goalkeeper made five saves. Udinese's keeper made two. That gap tells you which side had to work harder to stay in the game and which side was actually threatening. Venezia were the more dangerous team despite having less of the ball, and they made it count.

Udinese's Possession Was Worthless

Listen, having 54 per cent of the ball means nothing if you cannot do anything with it. Udinese attempted 26 crosses. Five were accurate. Twenty-six total crosses and five accurate. That is not a crossing threat. That is clutter.

They had seven corners and created one big chance. One. For all that territory, all that possession, all those long passes, they produced one moment that could genuinely be called a big opportunity. And they missed it. That is an accountability issue. Full stop.

Their substitutions were frantic. Five changes made, with Chakvetadze, Kabasele, Unai Gómez, Vakoun Bayo, and Lennon Miller all introduced at various points. Five substitutions in a game you are losing 2-0 tells me the manager had no idea what he was looking at or how to fix it. Throwing bodies at the problem is not a tactical solution. It is panic.

Udinese's recent form before this match made grim reading. In the five Serie A matches sampled before this fixture, Udinese had won none, drawn one and lost four, conceding 12 goals in the process. Udinese lost 2-5 to AS Roma in their most recent outing, and before that they were beaten 0-3 by Lecce and 0-2 by AC Milan. A draw against Parma and a 1-2 loss to Torino rounded off a wretched stretch. This was a team arriving in poor shape. Their performance confirmed it.

Venezia's Own Form Context

Venezia were hardly flying themselves. In the five Serie A matches sampled before this one, Venezia had won one, drawn none and lost four, scoring just two goals. Their only win in that run was a 1-0 victory over Napoli. Three consecutive defeats followed, including losses to Como, Inter, and Genoa, all by one goal. The difference tonight was desire. When both teams are low on form, the side that wants it more usually gets it. Venezia wanted it more.

Their shot numbers back that up. Fifteen total shots to Udinese's 13. Ten shots inside the box to Udinese's nine. Two big chances created to Udinese's one. Venezia were sharper, more direct, and more clinical when it counted. That is not luck. That is standards being met when standards were needed.

The Signals

SportSignals had three picks on this one. Over 2.5 goals came in. Both teams to score came in. Venezia to win came in. All three landed. The model gave Venezia a 46.7 per cent chance of winning. The home side delivered. Sometimes you back your read and the players justify it.

The over 2.5 call looked reasonable from early on. Two teams with shaky defensive records, both needing a result, both capable of conceding. It played out exactly like that. Three goals, two sides on the scoresheet, home win. A clean sweep for the picks.

Final Word

Venezia did what struggling teams have to do. They simplified it. They won their duels, they took their chances, and they defended with enough discipline to hold on. Bašić got his goal. Kike Pérez got his goal. The keeper made his saves. That is a collective effort. That is what accountability on a football pitch looks like.

Udinese had the ball and did nothing with it. In a results business, that is unacceptable. End of.