Joel Pohjanpalo gave the home crowd an early thrill in unconventional fashion, charging down Devis Vásquez’s clearance from a goal-kick and deflecting it straight into the back of the net.
That made it three successive home games in which Venezia have opened the scoring, but their lead looked far from bulletproof, as shortly after Jay Idzes pulled off a fantastic clearance to deny Lorenzo Colombo’s shot from inside the area.
The Azzurri marksman then turned provider with some brilliant footwork to allow Esposito to simply tap in and restore parity, with Esposito scoring for the third time in as many games.
Roberto D’Aversa’s men were ending the first half in the ascendancy, as only a stunning one-handed save from Venezia goalkeeper Filip Stankovic denied Youssef Maleh’s deflected shot. Opposite number Vasquez followed suit by saving from Pohjanpalo to ensure honours were even going into the break.
Empoli’s control of proceedings continued after the restart however, as they threatened to complete the turnaround on numerous occasions. Fortunately for the hosts, Stankovic stood firm, notably pulling off a crucial save to deny Colombo’s one-on-one effort with 20 minutes to play.
Venezia - who had avoided defeat in four of their prior eight home league games this season - upped the ante in the final minutes in a bid to escape the relegation zone.
Yet, creating clear-cut chances was another matter, with the Winged Lions eventually falling short in the face of a stern Empoli outfit.
After a stalemate in their last H2H in January, another draw here marks the first occasion in which Venezia and Empoli have repeated the same result twice in a row, with this result particularly disappointing for Venezia, who remain rooted inside the drop zone.