Lecce battled back from an Antonino Gallo own goal to salvage a 1-1 draw with Venezia, thanks to Federico Baschirotto’s powerful header, though the result still leaves them deep in the relegation scrap.
With both sides stuck in the bottom four, the tension was palpable at the Stadio Via del Mare.
Venezia welcomed back Hans Nicolussi Caviglia from suspension, but they were without the services of Michael Svoboda, Alfred Duncan, Mirko Maric, and Filip Stankovic.
Lecce looked to strike early, with long-range attempts from Ylber Ramadani, Tete Morente, and John Yeboah. Baschirotto also came close to breaking the deadlock, nearly steering a set-piece into the net.
After the interval, it was the visitors who drew first blood. Alessio Zerbin whipped in a teasing free kick toward the six-yard box, and in trying to cut it out before Christian Gytkjaer could pounce, Gallo inadvertently turned the ball into his own net.
But Lecce found their reply through another defender. Baschirotto made no mistake from a corner, shaking off his marker to head home the equaliser.
Daniel Fila nearly capitalized on a risky back-pass from Berisha, only for goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone to intervene.
Moments later, Lecce almost completed the turnaround when Konan N’Dri struck the inside of the post from a Nikola Krstovic assist, the ball agonizingly rolling across the goalmouth and away to safety.
The hosts continued to press, with Ionut Radu producing a vital stop to deny Baschirotto’s close-range header. There was a late shout for a penalty, but officials judged that the ball struck Fali Candé’s chest before deflecting naturally onto his arm.
Baschirotto remained pivotal to the end, flinging himself in front of Gaetano Oristanio’s stoppage-time counter to preserve the draw.
Still, despite halting a run of five straight losses, Lecce were met with boos from their supporters at full-time, as frustration mounted in their fight for Serie A survival.
