Candé and Oristanio seal Venezia's coup: Fiorentina defeated 2-1

Venice, 12 May 2025 – Salvation snap Venice and Fiorentina beats 2-1 and after almost eight months they move to fourth-last place, overtaking Empoli and Lecce by one point. Heart, determination, compactness and sacrifice marked the pace of the game for the Venetians, who immediately came close to scoring with Yeboah and then left the initiative to the Viola who, however, perhaps still bearing the brunt of their elimination from the Conference League at the hands of Betis Seville, struggled a lot to raise the pace of the game, still managing to make themselves very dangerous with Fagioli in the 27th minute.

Before the break, another Venetian-style strike came from Yeboah who, after beating Dodò with a feint, opened up his diagonal too much and it ended up out.. A flash that anticipated the real change of pace of Di Francesco's men, who in the second half raised the pace and volume of the game, hitting in the 60th minute with Candé's goal, good, on Kike Perez's cross, to deflect the ball into the goal after having disoriented two opponents (there remains the doubt about a possible handball by the Guinean, which the images do not fully clarify). The Viola's reaction was immediate, hitting a pole with Ranieri. A mistake that cost us dearly, since the reversal of the front was followed by the Oristanio doubles the lead with a header. A very hard blow for the guests who, thanks also to the changes made by Palladino, closed the match ahead by shortening the gap with Madragora in the 76th minute, but then - despite the final siege - were no longer able to overturn the outcome of the match.

Fagioli and Yeboah almost take the lead

The game plan seems pretty clear: Fiorentina tries to take control of the game while Venezia tries to take advantage of the counterattacks. And it is from a lightning-fast offensive transition that the first opportunity for the Venetians comes, after just 1', with Yeboah who wedges himself into the area but decides not to shoot with his right foot and instead looks for a teammate in the middle who isn't there. The danger is averted for the Viola, who quickly regain possession of the ball and try to raise their centre of gravity and pressure by staying in Venezia's half for a long time, but they do so without giving the game a high pace and intensity, so we have to wait until the 27' to see the first goal opportunity for the Viola, born from a recovery of the ball at the edge of the penalty area by Beltran, who passes to the onrushing Fagioli who warms up the gloves with a right-footed curling shot. Radu and manages to deflect the ball into a corner. Palladino's men try to gain more ground and confidence and, 2' from the break, they try again with a curling right-footed shot from Ndour, which whistles just a few centimeters from the top corner of the goal of the lagoon team. Before the half-time break, however, Venezia also appears again thanks to the "usual" Yeboah who, after entering the area, disorientates Dodò with a feint and shoots by opening the right diagonal too much which ends up wide.

Candé and Oristanio launch the lagooners

The game starts again without substitutions and with Fiorentina always very determined to maintain control of the operations. Venezia, for its part, tries to defend itself without taking too many risks and in fact at 58' tries to become dangerous again on the counterattack with Yeboah who feeds Oristanio from the wing who from a slightly off-centre position shoots towards the near post and just misses the outside of the net. The home team's goal but it seems to be in the air and in fact it arrives just a minute later when, on a cross from the edge of the area by Kike Perez, Candé enters the area perfectly, tames the ball disorienting Marì and Fagioli and does not miss the winning deflection in front of goal. Having conceded the goal, Palladino tries to shuffle the cards by inserting Folorunsho and Adli for Richardson and Ndour. It was from the feet of the former Napoli player that the shot came from, allowing Ranieri to reach the conclusion that hit the post after the Radu's foot deviation. A revolving door of the match, because from this the counterattack begins which Oristanio transforms with a header into the 2-0 goal on a cross from Zerbin. The Viola feel the blow and a bit tired, while Venezia tries to fly on the wings of enthusiasm and already in the 71st minute comes close to scoring the third again with Yeboah who shoots with his left foot from a good position but sends the ball high over the crossbar. In the 76th minute, however, comes the flash that reopens the game: Mandragora picks up the suggestion of the new entrant Adli and, despite sliding on the ground, unleashes a left-footed shot that ends up in the net at half height.

Palladino then tries to go all out with the inclusion of Colpani instead of Pongracic and the switch to 4-2-3-1 which even becomes 4-2-4 in the attacking phase. Di Francesco's choice instead falls on Zampano and Conde to try to cover Venezia who, in non-possession, switches to 5-4-1. The Guinean's match lasts only 7 minutes because an ankle problem forces him to leave the pitch to Haps, but the home team - tooth and nail - manages to protect this precious success in the 7 minutes of injury time, first coming close to the third with a poisonous free kick by Nicolussi Caviglia and then risking something too much on the attempts by Colpani first and then Folorunsho.

The little table

Venice (3-5-1-1): Radu; Schingtienne, Idzes; Cande; Zerbin (from 83' Conde and from 90' Haps), Busio, Nicolussi Caviglia, Perez (from 78' Doumbia), Ellertsson; Oristanio (from 83' Zampano); Yeboah (from 78' Maric). All. Di Francesco. Fiorentina (3-5-1-1): De Gea; Pongracic (from 79' Ciolpani), Marì, Ranieri; Dodo, Mandragora, Fagioli, Richardson (from 66' Adli), Gosens (from 85' Gosens); Ndour (from 66' Folorunsho); Beltran. Coach Palladino. Scorers: Candé (Venice 60'), Oristanio (Venice 68'), Mandragora (Fiorentina 77'). Note - Yellow cards: Busio (Venice), Folorunsho (Fiorentina), Dodò (Fiorentina), Beltran (Fiorentina), Ranieri (Fiorentina).