Venezia coach addresses Akor Adams’ penalty row in defeat to Lazio

Venezia head coach Giovanni Stroppa has explained why John Yeboah stepped up to take a penalty kick ahead of Nigerian striker Akor Adams during their 2-0 defeat to Lazio on Saturday, Soccernet.ng reports.

The newly promoted Serie A side’s poor start to their return to the top flight continued in front of their home fans as they suffered their fifth consecutive league defeat and remained without a point.

Venezia had already lost their opening four league games and headed into the clash against Lazio hoping to use their home support to finally secure their first points of the campaign.

However, one of the major talking points from the game came in the 17th minute when Venezia were awarded a penalty after a foul by the Lazio goalkeeper inside the area.

Club-record signing Akor Adams immediately picked up the ball and appeared ready to take the spot-kick. However, teammate John Yeboah was also interested in taking the penalty, leading to a disagreement between the two players over who should take it.

Stroppa stepped in to settle the situation and eventually signalled for Yeboah to take the penalty instead of Adams, much to the frustration of the Super Eagles striker.

Yeboah went on to miss the spot-kick, while Lazio secured a 2-0 victory through goals from Mattia Zaccagni and Tijjani Noslin.

Stroppa explains Akor Adams-Yeboah penalty decision

After the match, the Venezia coach revealed that he intervened to stop the disagreement and chose Yeboah as the right choice because he had taken penalties for the club before.

“I intervened because I didn't want them to keep arguing. I decided to let Yeboah take it, as he had taken penalties before; perhaps I made a mistake too”, Stroppa told Gazzetta.it.

The decision has added to the pressure on Stroppa, who is now facing the possibility of losing his job following Venezia’s difficult start to the season.

The newly promoted side have yet to pick up a point from their opening five league games, scoring just four goals while conceding 13. The Italian coach admitted that he knows he is under pressure but insisted that the final decision over his future does not belong to him.

“There's extraordinary work to be done, but it's not my decision. It depends on whether results or the work done on the pitch will be judged.

“I take my responsibilities. There are significant absences; besides Busio, there's Basic, who is an important player for us. We're always playing catch-up at the back, and I try to field the best players, but some are out of form.

“The team, with Juan Jesus, showed more personality and a better way of playing. We can only improve through hard work. During the break, we can recover many players; we must push forward, there's no other way.

“I’m proud of how the players are working, but it can't continue like this”, he added.

Adams has scored just once in Serie A for Venezia this season and will now be hoping to put his difficult start behind him when he joins up with his Super Eagles teammates for the upcoming AFCON 2027 qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.

The Nigerian striker will now be expected to take on a very important role, with Victor Osimhen set to miss the two matches through injury.