Joel Pohjanpalo scored 22 goals in Serie B in Venezia’s shirt. Venezia’s season continues with promotion to Serie A.
Finnish striker Joel Pohjanpalo reached a remarkable achievement on Friday. Pohjanpalo, playing in Venezia, won the Serie B goal crown, the second highest league level in Italian football.
The goal kingship came away with 22 goals. Cosenza was the second in the goal exchange Gennaro Tutinowho finished with 19 goals this season.
Pohjanpalo, 29, is the first Finn to be crowned Serie B’s top scorer.
In general, the wins in the goal exchanges in series of this level are a rare treat for Finns. It has reached something similar to last years Teemu Pukkiwho won the English Championship in the 2018–19 season.
Pohjanpalo was close to the title of the best goalscorer in Serie B already last season, when he hit 19 times. At that time, the first place in the goal exchange was taken by those who completed 21 goals Gianluca Lapadula.
Rise close
The season of Pohjanpalo, 29, was to get a huge decision anyway, when Venezia was caught in the final round in promotion to Serie A.
A win against Spezia would have been enough for Venezia, when Como and Cosenza drew 1-1.
Even at the break, everything looked good as Venezia led the match by Jay Idzes with a goal of 1–0.
In the second episode, everything went wrong. Spezia ran away to victory Francesco Pio Esposito and Arkadiusz Recan with goals. To top it all off, Venezia Giorgio Altare took a red card.
Pohjanpalo played the full minutes in the match, but did not score any goals this time.
Direct promotion to Serie A was claimed by Parma and Como. Venezia still has a chance to move up to Serie A from the promotion qualifiers.
Having fun in Venice
Pohjanpalo, which moved to Venezia in the summer of 2022, has quickly become a favorite of local fans.
The Finn’s goals and immediate character have impressed. Pohjanpalo has said that he is enjoying himself in Venice. He has quickly gained the honor of being the captain of the team.
Last season, Pohjanpalo made headlines when he celebrated victories with fans over beer.
– Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about how the players in football in general have become somewhat detached from the fans. The fans are what we play for. It’s nice to be able to give them not only experiences through football but also to show their own personality and their own “human” side, Pohjanpalo told Urheilu.
Serie A’s promotion qualifiers for Venezia begin on May 20. The team must first win a two-legged match pair to reach the qualifying finals.