Akor Adams is back on the scoresheet, but his individual brilliance wasn’t enough to rescue Venezia from a ruthless Fiorentina side in a six-goal Serie A thriller on Friday evening.
The Super Eagles striker bagged his first Italian top-flight goal to hand the hosts an early lead, only for his side to crumble in a 4-2 defeat at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo.
The 26-year-old, who joined the newly promoted outfit in the summer transfer window, had gone four league matches without a goal contribution since his two-goal salvo against Modena in the Coppa Italia.
It took Adams just 22 minutes to break his league drought. Latching onto a defence-splitting pass on the edge of the box, the Nigerian forward unleashed a precise strike inside the left post, leaving the opposing goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
However, the lead proved short-lived as La Viola responded with devastating speed. Seven minutes later, Franco Mastantuono slalomed past the host defense to fire home a low effort into the bottom corner.
Barely 60 seconds later, Mastantuono produced another moment of magic, twisting past defender after defender before curling a effort in off the post to turn the match on its head.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the 67th minute when Mateo Pellegrino finished off a fluid team move, slotting a crisp finish into the bottom right corner.
Mastantuono then capped off a stellar performance with six minutes remaining, nodding home a loose rebound to make it 4-1 for the Florence side.
The Winged Lions managed a late consolation when Ridgeciano Haps picked out Antoine Hainaut, who volleyed into the right post to pull one back.
Despite the bitter result, Adams will look to build on his breakthrough strike as he prepares for international duty with Eric Chelle’s Nigeria squad for their upcoming AFCON qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
