Verona: A Bitter Return to Serie B—Ascoli Wins at the Bentegodi

Hellas Verona had a bitter return to Serie B in its season opener after seven seasons in Serie A. Ascoli, newly promoted from Serie C, deservedly pulled off an away win at the Bentegodi Stadium, coming from behind to win 2-1 after Mulattieri’s first-half goal. It took the Marche-based team just four minutes—between the fourth and eighth minutes of the second half—to secure a well-deserved victory: the time between Silipo’s equalizer and D’Uffizi’s go-ahead goal, much to the delight of the roughly thirty Ascoli fans residing outside the Marche province (away travel was prohibited for residents of Ascoli and its province). The other 16,000 spectators, supporting the Gialloblù, left the Bentegodi just as they did last season: disillusioned and bitter. Next match: the Padova-Verona derby (August 29 at 9:00 p.m.), Ascoli vs. Carrarese (August 29 at 9:00 p.m.).

First half. It took ten minutes for both teams to find their rhythm. In the 12th minute, Ascoli earned a corner; the ball bounced around in the box, but a timely intervention by Edmusson saved the Gialloblù. Hellas responds in kind: corner kick (14th minute), taken by Kastanos; Bradaric takes a first-time shot from the edge of the box, but the ball sails over the crossbar. Hellas again: Harroui takes a sure-fire shot, deflected for a corner; from the resulting corner, Edmundsson’s header goes over the crossbar. 22’: Hellas counterattack; Le Borgne breaks down the right, delivers a low cross, and the onrushing Mulattieri makes it 1-0. The Marche side tries to respond, but it’s Verona that nearly doubles the lead with a spectacular shot off the post by Compagnon (33’). It seems like it’s one thing after another for Ascoli: Mulattieri, breaking toward the goal, is brought down by Corradini as he enters the box; the referee pulls out a red card, but VAR overturns the decision—a yellow card for Corradini. Ascoli continues with 11 men; a free kick from the edge of the box, Kastanos takes the shot, and goalkeeper Vitale makes the save in two attempts. D’Uffizi on the left is a thorn in the side of the Verona defense, though fortunately for Hellas, he’s unable to get a close-range shot off. Two minutes of stoppage time, then the final whistle.

Second half. The second half begins and Ascoli comes out firing, aided by an inexplicably timid Hellas. The Marche side tore through the Verona defense in just 4 minutes after Compagnon (3’) had given them false hope, forcing Vitale to make a save. In the 8th minute, Silipo capitalizes on a defensive error, enters the box, shows his class, and beats Leali: 1–1. In the 11th minute, the Bianconeri took the lead through Uffizi, the man of the match: he danced past the Verona defense and beat Leali to make it 1–2. Baroni tried to turn things around, first bringing on Cham and Livramento, then Bernede. One chance each, with the usual involvement of D’Uffizi for Ascoli and Mulattieri for Verona, followed by a missed close-range chance by Livramento. Hellas pushed hard until the fifth minute of stoppage time, but it was the newly promoted Ascoli who came out on top.