Venezia had 71% of the ball at the Penzo and Di Francesco took all three points

Venezia came back up as Serie B champions and spent their first evening back in the top flight doing almost everything the promoted side is supposed to be unable to do. They kept the ball for 71% of the match. They had 19 shots to Lecce's 12. They put the ball in the net twice.

Neither one counted, and they lost 0-2. ⚽

Two goals ruled out, one post hit

Giovanni Stroppa's 3-5-2 controlled the first half without ever quite breaking through. Correia did beat Falcone, but VAR sent the goal back — the ball had come off his hand on the way in. Lecce's clearest moment of the half went the other way: Coulibaly hit the post on 36 minutes.

Then Lecce did the thing Venezia never managed. Straight after the restart, Coulibaly fed Olaf Gorter and the midfielder struck from outside the box, the shot taking a deflection on its way past Stanković. 46 minutes gone, 1-0 to the away side.

Gorter came off at 61' having scored the goal that decided the game. Venezia kept coming and thought they had levelled through Bašić, but Adams was offside in the build-up and that one went back too.

The substitute who finished it

Eusebio Di Francesco sent on Tiago Gabriel at 74'. Six minutes later the defender met Danilo Veiga's cross from the left and headed Lecce two in front. That is a coach making a substitution and having it answered inside a quarter of an hour, at a ground where he was relegated as the home manager two seasons ago.

Falcone finished with six saves. Lecce finished with 187 accurate passes — Venezia had 548 — and three points. Di Francesco's side did not play well and did not need to.

The expected goals will bother Stroppa more than the possession. Both sides cleared two: 2.10 for Venezia, 2.21 for Lecce. A promoted team that creates that much at home and scores none of it has a problem it can fix. A promoted team that also concedes 2.21 to twelve shots has a second one.

Match facts

• 46' — Olaf Gorter (Lecce), assist Coulibaly
• 80' — Tiago Gabriel (Lecce), assist Danilo Veiga
• Correia (Venezia) had a first-half goal disallowed for handball after VAR
• Bašić (Venezia) had a second-half goal disallowed for offside against Adams
• Half-time: Venezia 0-0 Lecce
• Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, Venice — Serie A matchday 1, Sunday 23 August 2026
• Referee: Antonio Rapuano (Rimini)

Neither side has strayed far since

A month on, the direction this result pointed both clubs in has held. Venezia lost their next four as well — 0-2 at AC Milan, 2-3 at Frosinone, 2-4 at home to Fiorentina and 0-2 at home to Lazio — a run that leaves Stroppa's side bottom of Serie A on zero points after five rounds, with four goals scored and thirteen conceded, the division's worst defensive record. Lecce have been streakier: a 3-2 win over Monza sits between three defeats, 0-4 at home to Roma, 0-1 at Cagliari and 0-3 at AC Milan. Di Francesco's side sit 12th on six points, well clear of the relegation zone Venezia currently occupy.

What's next

Venezia go to San Siro on Friday 28 August to face Milan, which is a demanding way to spend matchday 2 when you are still looking for your first goal back in Serie A. Lecce stay at home and host Roma on Monday 31 August, with three points already banked and nothing to prove for a week.