All in one night: record audience, full spoils and revenge of the first leg. Venezia took over from the seething “Penzo” what it had left from the “Zini”. Cremonese, however, loses for the fourth time in the last six, the first in a direct clash away from home.
The retaliation is from the Bridge of Sighs. In December the mental strength and the grey-reds’ ability to stay in the game, albeit with their backs against the wall due to numerical inferiority, had led Stroppa to take a risk by inserting attacking midfielders and a fresh striker to go and gain success in the final. In the heart of the second leg, after a dominant first half with a deserved advantage for Mudo, Courage changed the bench and Vanoli’s substitutions completed the turnaround which cost Cremo -7 from third place. A blow if you consider that in the 45th minute the podium was back to just one point.
Extremes of a Venetian rondo that centrifuges everything and everyone. The refrain: the Grigiorossi have more possession than their opponent, they kick more towards the enemy goalkeeper, they surround them with their phrasing but they don’t capitalize properly. The discordant note: when you need to change pace, you stumble. And at this juncture of the season, which is not yet decisive for Cremo and Venezia, it is the lagoon players who lead the way with the 2-1 which launches Pohjanpalo and his associates to put pressure back on Como, reiterating that with the strength of the attack they can overcome defensive imperfections. The number of goals scored is impressive: 64 so far, 20 more than Cremonese.
Stroppa’s choice to start again with the Senators, with Coda and Vazquez in attack, was rewarded by a sumptuous first half in the presence of a team loaded with coaching and environment. In the “Penzo” bullfight Mudo had acted as a bullfighter with the goal that had been missing since 27 October (in Ciattadella) and the entire Cremonese had taken measures after the initial outburst of Vanoli’s men. In the second half, those who wanted to go beyond the balance won: to Pohjanpalo and Gytkjær, Vanoli added Pierini and Bjarkason, with Zampano already at full range and a midfielder of quality and inclusion like Busio. An arsenal on the field that armed itself until it found the decisive attack. Of course, in Venezia’s goals there are grey-red errors: Antov makes a mistake with his header, but Pohjanpalo already knows how to trigger Gytkjær for the equaliser; Sernicola loses Bjarkason on the double but in Pierini’s vertical for Gytkjær, the 9 has two bank options that can pocket for the winger who throws himself in.
Running, physicality, conviction, automatisms, Venezia won based on these pillars. Cremo, at best, stayed a little too long in the locker room after the break and when they could have risked not to develop their fourth regret in the last six matchdays on the pitch, they instead left the lagoon players with the same references. Only towards the end, after a couple of miracles from Saro (how young Gianluca is growing…) was an area predator like Ciofani about to make the most of the crumbs given to him, going to a heel and a super Joronen from his first goal of the season. These signs can also illuminate the road that leads to the playoffs: why not play all the aces up your sleeve first?
“It doesn’t end here, we want to go to Serie A and we will try all the way”: this is the message to the unified goals from Lochoshvili, among the best in the “Penzo” bedlam. Now, with only four points in six days, third place far away and Catanzaro just a stone’s throw away, it’s no longer enough to just try. We must first of all believe in it, with the courage of those who try everything to win every match.
Simone Arrighi – sent to Venice
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