Giovanni Simeone bagged his second hat-trick this Serie A season as Verona dispatched Venezia 3-1 at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. Though the visitors held Igor Tudor’s side goalless in the first half, there was no saving from the Argentine goal-getter after the restart.
Venezia rued a raft of decent scoring chances before half-time as Verona punished Paolo Zanetti’s side in the second half through their standout striker. Simeone came knocking on Sergio Romero’s door a couple of times in the first half, but his first half-chance was ruthlessly turned into the back of the net nine minutes after the break.
The 26-year-old went eight consecutive Serie A matches without scoring before today. However, when Simeone hits his stride, not many strikers in Italy’s top-flight are superior to him. The son of Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone doubled his count after the hour mark with another difficult finish to put clear daylight between the sides.
Venezia’s hopes of avoiding defeat received a boost in the 81st minute as David Okereke headed home Dennis Johnsen’s cross to pull one back for the travelling side. But the visitors’ celebrations were short-lived, with Simeone completing his hat-trick in the 88th minute following a blistering solo run from second-half substitute Kevin Lasagna.
Giovanni Simeone is the first player to score multiple hat-tricks in Serie A this season:
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ vs. Lazio
⚽️⚽️⚽️ vs. VeneziaAnother matchball. ? pic.twitter.com/gMABAMGPQE
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It appears that the Verona top scorer enjoys facing Venezia. He notched up a brace in the reverse fixture to help the Gialloblu come from a 3-0 half-time deficit and claim a stunning 4-3 win at the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo. Simeone has taken his Serie A tally for the season to 15 goals, which is particularly impressive given Hellas’ topsy-turvy campaign.
While the victory fired Verona to within a three-point distance of sixth-placed Lazio, Venezia will have to fight tooth and nail to exit the drop zone. They remain stuck in 18th in the Serie A table, three points adrift of safety after their fellow relegation rivals Cagliari stunned Torino 2-1 earlier this afternoon.