Fiorentina lead at half-time thanks to Mastantuono's double as Venezia's winless run continues

Match progress

On Friday, 11 September, kick-off at 20:45 at the Penzo stadium in Venice marked the opening fixture of Serie A's fourth round: Venezia against Fiorentina. Both sides arrived at the match with zero points, having lost all three of their opening league games this season.

At half-time, home side Venezia trailed 1-2. Akor Adams opened the scoring in the 22nd minute on a swift counter-attack after a lost ball by Cher Ndour, with Gianluca Busio providing the assist. Fiorentina then turned the match around through Argentine forward Franco Mastantuono, who scored twice in two minutes: he equalised in the 29th minute with a long-range strike and put his side ahead in the 30th, finishing left-footed after a pass from Beto. Late in the half, Venezia midfielder Busio was forced off in tears through injury (replaced by Helgason), while defender Schingtienne picked up a yellow card for a foul.

Context

The match carried heavy stakes for both clubs, since neither had picked up a point after three rounds. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, this is the first time since the 1935/36 season that Fiorentina have lost their opening three league matches — their worst run since 2019, when they lost four in a row. Ahead of the game, the club sacked coach Fabio Grosso and brought back Paolo Vanoli, who, as reported by Firenze e dintorni, had previously been let go by Fiorentina's management in a decision now widely seen as a mistake. The outlet also noted that the team's defence, midfield and attack had all struggled in the opening rounds, and that expensive new signings such as Atta and Oulai had yet to justify their price tags.

For Venezia, this is only the third time in club history — after 1949/50 and 2001/02 — that they have lost their opening three top-flight matches; in both previous instances they went on to lose the fourth as well. Coming into the game, Venezia had scored just two goals while conceding seven. Historically, Venezia hold 11 wins in 28 meetings with Fiorentina (3 draws, 14 losses).

Line-ups

Venezia (3-5-2): Stankovic; Schingtienne, Moreno, Haps; Hainaut, Kike Perez, Busio, Sohm, Sagrado; Adams, Yeboah. Coach: Stroppa.

Fiorentina: De Gea; Jimenez, Dragusin, Viery, Ranieri; Ndour, Fagioli, Atta; Mastantuono, Beto, Njie. Coach: Vanoli. (Gazzetta and Repubblica describe the formation as 4-3-3, Fantacalcio as 4-2-3-1; the listed players are identical.)

The match was refereed by Francesco Fourneau, with Dionisi on VAR. It was broadcast exclusively on DAZN.