2014 - 15 January and February Review
AS Venezia played Siena in January, and Frosinone, Lanciano, Cittadella and Crotone in February.
SIENA 0-2 AS VENEZIA
Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-3-3) Kuszczak, Neill, Terlizzi, Sørensen, Alhassen, Bottone, Barillà, Valenta, Sinclair, Seijas, Anelka
Line Up: Siena: (5-4-1) Lamanna, Morero, Matheu, Brandão, Almici, Coppola, Rubin, Vergassola, D’Agostino, Russotto, Monachello
The first game of the month saw the return fixture of the first game of the campaign, AS Venezia vs Siena, at the Artemio – Montepaschi Arena, in front of 9,490 fans. Jake Sinclair was making his debut. The first goal came after eight minutes, when Kuszczak’s kick up field found Barillà, but Brandão cleared, but it fell straight to Bottone. Sinclair then received the ball, and played it straight to Barillà, who played a lovely through ball to Anelka, who put it straight in to the back of the net. Siena’s Vergassola was taken off after suffering an injury. The next goal came after a Seijas corner, after Sørensen was bought down by Monachello inside the box. Anelka scored the resulting penalty. Late on, another Siena player was taken off injured, this time it being D’Agostino.
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Nicolas Anelka (8)
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Nicolas Anelka (pen 37)
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Anelka
Manager’s View
The win was great win. It was revenge. We played really well and to score against such a good defence that early on is very good. I am very happy for Anelka as he has had a bit of a tough time recently of scoring goals, but now his back on track, and is doing very well, is great. Why the referee didn’t book any of Siena’s players, though, is beyond me. They committed way more fouls than us and we get the bookings. Something is not quite right there.
AS VENEZIA 0-0 FROSINONE
Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-3-3) Kuszczak, Neill, Terlizzi, Sørensen, Alhassen, Bottone, Barillà, Espinosa, Sinclair, Seijas, Anelka
Line Up: Frosinone: (4-3-3) Zappino, Ristovski, Mendes, Diakité, Pasqualini, Gucher, Frara, Vetrih, Soddimo, Cesaretti, Coda
The game was a let-down in front of 9,970 fans at the Stadio Pieruigi Penzo. The first half had lots of stoppages in play, as fouls were coming in left, right and centre, with plenty of yellow cards too. The game was really even and even went as far as each team having an equal share of possession and number of shots on target.
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Sørensen
Manager’s View
This was a very disappointing game. It shows the vast difference between the highs and lows of football. One week, you play really well, and everyone takes notice. The next week, you fail and you lose interest. It is a vicious circle. Yes, Frosinone are a decent side, and yes, they did deserve the draw. But for us, a team that is in contention for the league title, we need to be winning these games and the team in front of will capitalise on our mistakes. That is why it is so important to not drop points, like we did here today.
LANCIANO 1-2 AS VENEZIA
Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-4-2) Kuszczak, Seitaridis, Piccolo, Sørensen, Biraghi, Bottone, Barillà, Sinclair, Seijas, Anelka, Baros
Line Up: Lanciano: (4-2-3-1) Terracciano, Aquilanti, Troest, Amenta, Mammarella, Paghera, Mezavilla, De Giorgio, Baraye, Turchi, Babacar
A solid win for AS Venezia at the Guido Biondi in front of 2,347 fans, a key moment in the race for automatic promotion. Things started well for I Gondolieri, with Baros netting after six minutes. Anelka won the ball back and ran at the hole it left in the defence. He then pulled it back to Baros, who made no mistake with the finish. But it took till the second half for any more goals to hit the back of the net, with Davide Bottone scoring his first for the club. A Kuszczak goal kick went straight over the back line, and into the path of Bottone, who bore down in to the penalty area and beat the on rushing goalkeeper with a magnificent lob. Lanciano’s goal came straight from corner, with Troest finishing after he found himself in plenty of space late on. Lanciano then looked like they may get another goal, but the I Gondolieri stood firm to deny them.
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Milan Baros (6)
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Davide Bottone (72)
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Magnus Troest (86)
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Kuszczak
Manager’s View
These three points could be key to the season, and that is why I am so pleased that we have got them. If we had lost this, it would have thrown open the spot, but now, we have made it ours. We attacked well, and I am so happy for Davide, he scored a great goal today. I am very happy for Tomasz as well, he played really well and deserved the Man of the Match, and he kept us in the game at the end.
AS VENEZIA 1-0 CITTADELLA
Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-4-2) Kuszczak, Neill, Piccolo, Sørensen, Biraghi, Bottone, Espinosa, De Silvestro, Seijas, Sinclair, Anelka
Line Up: Cittadella: (4-4-2) Pierobon, Campello, Mengoni, Pellizzer, Marino, Sandrini, Busellato, Gorobsov, Sgrigna, Scapuzzi, Donnarumma
Just over 10,000 people watched ASV run out one nil winners at the Stadio Peirluigi Penzo. The first and only goal of the game came from centre back Felice Piccolo in the nineteenth minute. After De Silvestro was fouled, a Javi Espinosa free kick was whipped in to the box to the near post, where an on running Piccolo met the ball, beat the keeper and a heavy first touch put it in the back of the net. The first half created a few more chances, but the none proved goal-worthy. The second half had nothing to cheer about, and Cittadella’s Donnarumma went of injured.
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Felice Piccolo (19)
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Piccolo
Manager’s View
A win is a win. It was not the greatest, but we got the three points, which is crucial. Claudio Foscarini will not be happy with the goal his side conceded, let me tell you that now. If my goalkeeper did what his did, I would throw a hissy fit. It was not good, he was so indecisive. He came, but never got the chance to go back, the free kick tricked him. To be fair you have to give credit to Javi for that, as we didn’t work on it on the training ground at all.
CROTONE 0-1 VENEZIA
Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-4-2) Kuszczak, Neill, Piccolo, Sørensen, Biraghi, Bottone, Espinosa, Barillà, Sinclair, Seijas, Baros, Anelka
Line Up: Crotone: (4-3-1-2) Coppola, Madonna, Cremonesi, Abruzzese, Mazzotta, Crimi, Galardo, Saric, Diakité, Danilevicius, Maniero
ASV got another one nil win at the Ezio Scida in front of 3,330 people. Venezia controlled the possession and showed real intent to get it back if they lost it, but it wasn’t till the second half when they got the goal to give them the three points. A Neill throw in on the left wing found Jake Sinclair, who passed it to Bottone who immediately gave it to Barillà. Barillà turned and passed it out wide to the waiting Seijas who cleverly passed it to the overlapping Biraghi. He then played a lovely ball back to Seijas, who beat two defenders to the ball and crossed it in. The goalkeeper parried the cross, but it fell to Anelka, who finished it. A few more chances were created, but none could be buried.
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Nicolas Anelka (66)
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Neill
Manager’s View
Another good win, and a goal from a goalkeeper’s mistake. Even though it might suggest that we need a bit of luck to score goals, it shows that my players are alert to what is going on around them. Another three points is good, and it shows that we can pick up three points no matter what the game is like, whether it is scrappy or we are dominating, which is another hallmark of a good, title winning side.
OVERVIEW
LEAGUE TABLE
AS Venezia still sit second, 5 points off the top, but with a game in hand. They have won 19, drawn 6 and only lost 1 game so far this season. They have scored 44 goals, and only conceded 16, the divisions’ best.
NEXT MONTH: MARCH
I Gondolieri will play six games next month. Varese, Latina and Modena at home and Pro Vercelli, Trapani and Avellio away.