For an hour at the Stadio Benito Stirpe, Frosinone looked to be strolling towards a comfortable afternoon. Two goals to the good, Antonio Raimondo purring, the home crowd settled — and then the whole thing threatened to slip through their fingers. Venezia, without a point to their name all season, roused themselves from nowhere and hauled the game level inside eight astonishing minutes.

That the hosts still walked off with three points is down to Giorgi Kvernadze, whose 83rd-minute strike settled a match that had briefly lurched out of Frosinone's control. His right-footed finish to the bottom-right corner made it 3-2 and spared the home side the ignominy of dropping points from a position of such command.

The result lifts Frosinone to seventh on six points, a bright and businesslike start to their campaign. For Venezia it is a third defeat in three, a season yet to draw breath, and a place at the very bottom of the table that grows more uncomfortable by the week.

Raimondo's afternoon

Frosinone set about their visitors with intent and had their reward on 21 minutes. Anthony Oyono swung over a cross from the flank and Raimondo rose in the centre of the box to plant a header into the bottom-right corner. It was a striker's goal, all timing and conviction, and it set the tone for what followed.

By the interval the lead had doubled and Raimondo had his brace. Patrizio Masini was the architect this time, teeing up the forward for a close-range finish that he tucked into the centre of the goal on 39 minutes. Two goals, two different suppliers, and a home side purring towards half-time with the game seemingly in their keeping.

There was little to suggest what lay ahead. Venezia had been passive, second to loose balls, ragged at the back. Frosinone, by contrast, moved with the confidence of a team already two wins into their season, and the Stirpe hummed with the satisfaction of a job apparently half-done.

Venezia's revival

Football rarely respects a script, and Venezia tore this one up after the break. On 66 minutes John Yeboah cut in from the right and lashed a left-footed shot into the top-left corner, Gianluca Busio the provider after a fast break that caught Frosinone flat-footed. Suddenly the visitors had a foothold and a heartbeat.

The equaliser arrived eight minutes later and carried real menace. Antoine Hainaut worked the ball into a dangerous position and Richie Sagrado steered a left-footed finish from very close range into the centre of the goal. From two down and drifting, Venezia had drawn level, and for a spell they looked the likelier winners.

It was a transformation that flattered neither their league position nor their form, but for those frantic minutes the bottom side played with the freedom of men with nothing to lose. Frosinone, rattled, had to find their composure quickly or risk surrendering everything they had built.

Kvernadze settles it

They found their answer in Kvernadze. With seven minutes of normal time remaining, the Georgian collected possession in the centre of the box and drove a right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner, restoring the lead and, with it, the natural order of an afternoon that had briefly gone haywire. The Stirpe exhaled as one.

It was the intervention of a side who, for all their late wobble, had done more than enough across ninety minutes to merit the points. Raimondo's early double had given them the platform; Kvernadze's nerve provided the finish. Three goals, three points, and a reminder that this Frosinone team carry a threat from more than one source.

For Venezia there is cruelty in the manner of it. To claw back a two-goal deficit away from home and still leave with nothing is the sort of blow that lingers. Their attacking spark was real — Yeboah and Sagrado both took their chances well — but the defensive frailty that has haunted their opening weeks resurfaced at the decisive moment.

Table and outlook

The wider picture is encouraging for Frosinone. Seventh place, six points from three matches, and a goal difference in credit: this is a start that hints at a season of substance rather than survival. Two wins in three, and the character shown in weathering Venezia's storm, will please a dressing room that refused to buckle when the game briefly turned.

Venezia's numbers make for grim reading. Bottom of the table, no points, three defeats, seven goals conceded and only two scored. The performance offered flickers of hope, but flickers do not keep a side off the foot of Serie A, and the margin for error is already narrowing.

What both clubs will take from this is a sense of who they are. Frosinone are a team who can score, wobble and still win — a valuable trait over a long campaign. Venezia, for all their second-half defiance, must learn to protect leads and their own goal before the early points slip too far out of reach. The season is young, but for one side it already feels heavy.