Kike Pérez's Stunner Sends Udinese Bottom as Venezia Climb Off the Foot of Serie A

For 53 minutes at the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo, nothing happened. Then, in the space of twelve wild minutes, everything did — and when the noise died down, Venezia had their first win in a month, Udinese had a new man in the dugout with a defeat to his name, and the bottom of Serie A had been turned upside down. Venezia and Udinese went into Friday night's game as the two worst teams in Italy. Venezia sat last with three points from ten games; Udinese were one place and two points above them. It was the kind of fixture neither side could afford to lose, and for the entire first half both played like they knew it — cautious, tense, goalless. Toma Bašić broke the deadlock eight minutes after the restart, finishing from Antoine Hainaut's pass to put the hosts ahead. The lead lasted four minutes. Matías Moreno, trying to deal with a ball into his own box, could only divert it past his own goalkeeper, and suddenly Udinese were level without having created much at all. That might have been the story of the night — two struggling sides sharing the points and staying stuck. Instead, Kike Pérez decided it. In the 65th minute, Pasquale Mazzocchi — already booked earlier in the half — fed the Spaniard outside the area, and Pérez took one touch and drove a left-footed shot from distance into the top corner. Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye never moved. It was Pérez's first league goal of the season, in his eleventh appearance, and it could hardly have come at a better time. The goal also spoiled a homecoming of sorts. Paolo Zanetti, appointed Udinese coach during the week, was taking charge of his first game — against Venezia, the club he used to manage. He watched his new side drop to the foot of the table instead. Udinese have now won once all season, drawn twice and lost eight of their eleven matches, and their goal difference of minus thirteen is matched only by the team that beat them. For Venezia, the win ends a three-match losing streak and lifts them to nineteenth on six points, one behind Monza and two from safety. It is a small step, but after weeks of sliding, a win over a direct rival at home — decided by a goal worth watching twice — is the kind of night that can change the mood of a season. Both sides now disappear into the international break. When they return on 22 November, Venezia face the hardest possible assignment — a trip to Juventus — while Udinese travel to Bologna, still looking for the win that would lift them off the bottom.