Venezia 1-0 Napoli: Stankovic saves De Bruyne penalty on Nicola's debut

Venezia beat Napoli 1-0 at the Penzo on Saturday for their first Serie A win of the season, in Davide Nicola's first match as coach. Akor Adams scored four minutes after half-time, and goalkeeper Filip Stankovic saved a Kevin De Bruyne penalty to protect the lead.

Venezia had started matchday 7 bottom of the table with no points after six straight defeats, a run that cost Giovanni Stroppa his job this week. For Massimiliano Allegri's Napoli it is a third league defeat in seven matches and a second loss in a row, after their Champions League defeat to Villarreal.

Adams strikes, Juan Jesus clears

Napoli did not put a shot on target in the first half. The breakthrough came on 49 minutes: Venezia's Simon Sohm sent Adams through, and the striker's right-foot shot took a deflection and wrong-footed Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.

Allegri had started Lorenzo Lucca, Billy Gilmour and Giovane, and replaced all three with Rasmus Højlund, De Bruyne and Alisson Santos within six minutes of the goal. On 59 minutes Juan Jesus, a former Napoli defender, blocked Højlund's close-range shot from an Alisson cross with Stankovic beaten. “The clearance on Højlund? I don't even know how I got to it, with my knee maybe,” Juan Jesus said.

De Bruyne's second career penalty miss

On 66 minutes Venezia defender Matias Moreno brought Højlund down in the box. De Bruyne placed his right-footed kick to his left, but Stankovic read it and held the ball. According to Corriere della Sera, it was only the second penalty De Bruyne has missed in his career, out of 18 taken.

Stankovic then came off his line to stop Højlund, pushed away a Stanislav Lobotka shot from the edge of the box on 84 minutes and turned an Alisson strike behind in the 90th. Napoli finished with 29 shots to Venezia's nine and 12 corners to none; Stankovic made nine saves. “I gave everything I had. This win is beautiful because of the unity we showed on the pitch,” he said.

What it changes

Venezia stay 20th on three points, but they are now one point behind Udinese, Monza, Parma and Fiorentina, who all play on Sunday or Monday. According to Corriere dello Sport, Nicola has never lost his first game after taking over a side mid-season: four wins and two draws, this one included. “Me, the survival specialist? I'm tired of that narrative. In my view the players gave me a huge hand,” Nicola said. “Today's is the spirit a newly promoted side needs to stay up.”

Napoli stay on 10 points, nine behind leaders Inter, who won 3-1 at Bologna later on Saturday. Corriere della Sera counts five defeats in Napoli's nine matches in all competitions this season. “Looking at the results there could be some concern, but the performance gives us confidence,” Allegri said. “We created a lot and at the same time made a lot of mistakes at the back. And when we make them, we are punished.”

Allegri also expects to be without Alisson Santos, who was hurt again late on: “He felt a twinge at the end of the match and I fear we will lose him for a while.” Napoli face Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday, having lost their first two games in the competition, before Roma visit the Maradona next Saturday.