After suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan last time out for their first loss of 2023, Verona returned to Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi hoping to secure back-to-back home wins for the first time since February 2022. The Mastiffs took the game to Lecce early on and Kevin Lasagna fired just wide from a tight angle before the forward curled past Wladimiro Falcone, but the strike was ruled out for offside.
Lecce held firm to repel the early Verona pressure and I Giallorossi soon showed the quality that led to their recent six-match unbeaten run in Serie A. First Federico Di Francesco Lorenzo’s powerful strike was palmed away by Lorenzo Montipò and the Verona stopper was involved again minutes later, holding on to Lorenzo Colombo’s drilled shot. The two saves proved decisive as Verona took the lead minutes before HT through Fabio Depaoli’s glancing header which nested in the bottom corner and left Falcone rooted to the spot.
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To respond, Lecce had to find some attacking form against a side they had failed to score against in their last two meetings. But, as I Giallorossi pushed forward, they were exposed at the back and Ivan Ilić almost utilised his time and space after driving a long-range strike against the bar. Soon afterwards though, Verona were on their way to just a third win of the Serie A season when Darko Lazović controlled in the area and fired into the bottom corner past Falcone.
The second goal gave Verona a comfortable cushion to see out the contest and Lecce offered little in response. Seven points from a possible 12 since Marco Zaffaroni’s arrival as boss has given the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi hope of recovering from a poor start to the Serie A season. The Mastiffs’ cutting edge was contrasted by Lecce’s goalscoring woes as they have now failed to score in three of their last five away games in Serie A.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Darko Lazović (Verona)
