Akor Adams scores to lift Venezia over Napoli

Super Eagles striker Akor Adams broke his four-game goal drought. He scored the only goal as bottom-placed Venezia surprised Napoli with a 1-0 win in Serie A at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on Saturday, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.

This win was Venezia's first of the season. It came in their first game under new coach Davide Nicola. He replaced Giovanni Stroppa, who was sacked earlier. Venezia had lost their first six league matches, scoring five goals and letting in 16. They had not won any match in any competition this season.

Napoli were the favorites and had most of the ball. But they did not create many clear chances in the first half. Venezia had the only shot on target before halftime. Adams took advantage of a mistake by Benoit Badiashile and tested goalkeeper Alex Meret at the near post.

The game changed just four minutes into the second half. A long ball from Simon Sohm, the Switzerland international of Nigerian descent, found Adams. The 26-year-old used his strength to push off Amir Rrahmani. He cut inside and fired a shot that deflected off the Napoli defender, wrong-footing Meret in the 49th minute.

That was Adams' second league goal of the season.

Napoli, who rested Kevin De Bruyne and Rasmus Hojlund after a 3-1 Champions League loss to Villarreal, brought them on to find an equaliser. Juan Jesus, who played against his old club, made a crucial block on the line to stop Hojlund in the 59th minute. Venezia then gave away a penalty after Matias Moreno fouled Hojlund. But De Bruyne's shot in the 68th minute was weak, and goalkeeper Filip Stankovic caught it on the line.

Stankovic was the star of the match. He made nine saves in total. This included a stunning stop to push a curler from Stanislav Lobotka out of the top corner and another to deny an Alisson Santos shot at the base of the post.

Adams, who joined from Sevilla for a reported €17m this summer, now has four goals in nine matches across all competitions. Venezia remain at the bottom of the table with three points, one point behind Udinese, Monza, Genoa, Parma, and Fiorentina. Napoli, missing the chance to enter the top four, stay ninth with 10 points after their third loss this season.