Venezia beat Napoli as Akor Adams scores and Stankovic saves De Bruyne penalty

Lucca and Adams threaten early

Napoli began with De Bruyne, Hojlund and the available-again Anguissa on the bench. Lucca threatened with a header in the seventh minute as the visitors sought an early goal against Venezia.

Adams exploited Badiashile’s hesitation in the ninth minute, but Meret comfortably held his shot. Napoli’s Giovane then shot narrowly wide from distance in the 26th minute, leaving the opening exchanges without a goal.

Before halftime, Lucca failed to connect with Giovane’s cross, wasting another Napoli opportunity. The teams reached the interval level at 0–0, with the breakthrough still to come after the restart.

Adams breaks the tie

Napoli combined through Lucca and Beukema early in the second half, but Giovane narrowly failed to finish. Adams then scored in the 49th minute, his shot deflecting off Amir Rrahmani and beating Meret.

Napoli made three changes in the 54th minute. De Bruyne replaced Gilmour, Alisson came on for Giovane and Hojlund took Lucca’s place, bringing two of the players initially left on the bench into the match.

Stankovic denies the equalizer

Juan Jesus intercepted Alisson’s pass in the 59th minute before Hojlund could finish from close range. Moreno later fouled Hojlund inside the area, but Stankovic saved De Bruyne’s resulting penalty.

Stankovic also intervened against Hojlund in the 76th minute, then stopped McTominay’s delivery toward him in the 81st. Those interventions kept Napoli from finding an equalizer as the match entered its closing stages.

Late saves secure Venezia’s first win

Late saves from Lobotka and Alisson Santos preserved Venezia’s lead until full-time. After six opening league defeats, Venezia had their first victory, and Nicola had his first win in charge.