Venezia had two goals disallowed and saw Lecce score twice against the run of play in the second half, in what could be a big result for the relegation battle.
The Lagunari won the Serie B title last term to earn promotion back into the top flight, already starting their season with a 3-2 Coppa Italia victory over Modena last week. Andrea Adorante and Marin Sverko were injured, with Matias Moreno fit for the bench.
Lecce’s summer was overshadowed by the contract dispute with Lameck Banda and a serious injury to Medon Berisha. Their campaign already got off to a rough start with a 2-0 Coppa Italia exit to Palermo.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Antoine Hainaut’s angled drive skimmed the far post after springing the offside trap, then Thierry Correia did have the ball in the net when meeting the John Yeboah assist, but it was disallowed as it bounced off his hand in the build-up.
Wladimiro Falcone also had to make a save on the Yeboah counter-attack, then Gianluca Busio dribbled past four only to then bend the finish inches wide of the far post.
Against the run of play, Lecce nearly took the lead on 36 minutes when Lassana Coulibaly hooked down a corner and smashed it against the base of the back post. Antonino Gallo was forced off at half-time after a cut to his eyebrow in an accidental collision with Kike Perez.
Within moments of the restart, Lecce had taken the lead when Armel Bella-Kotchap’s weak clearance fell to Olaf Gorter on the edge of the area, his scuffed finish making its way through a sea of legs into the far bottom corner.
Busio couldn’t keep his free kick down, with Bella-Kotchap sprinting back for a crucial tackle on Willem Geubbels, but Falcone had to make a huge reaction save on the Bartol Franjic header from close range.
Venezia had the ball in the net on 75 minutes with Toma Basic, but the offside flag went up and was confirmed by VAR, the second disallowed goal for the Lagunari in this match.
Filip Stankovic showed his inexperience with an error that saw him stranded on the Santiago Pierotti lob, saved by the Busio goal-line clearance, then got back in time to make the follow-up save.
On the resulting short corner, Lecce doubled their lead when Danilo Veiga stood up the cross for Tiago Gabriel’s header at the back post.
It should’ve been 3-0, but Nikola Stulic shinned over the bar from six yards on a low cross from the right, then moments later managed to bundle it wide from a yard round the far post on a Youssef Maleh assist.
Falcone kept the clean sheet intact with another big reaction save on the Ridgeciano Haps header.
Venezia 0-2 Lecce
Gorter 46 (L), Tiago Gabriel 80 (L)
Player statistic
| 3' | Kialonda Gaspar |
| 46' | Olaf Gorter (Assist: Lassana Coulibaly) | |||
| 59' | Oumar Ngom | |||
| 71' | Danilo Veiga | |||
| Matteo Dagasso |  |
78' | ||
| 80' |  |
Tiago Gabriel |
