Gianluca Busio, a midfielder for the American national team, scored the winning goal for Venice in their Serie A promotion campaign.
The 21-year-old produced a spectacular goal to lead his team back into contention for promotion to the top division.
With the Serie B season coming to an end, the Venice team is in a desperate situation.
Going into the final month of games, they are three points behind Como in the automatic promotion zone. It's expected to be a thrilling final game of the season, but there are still four games left on the schedule to establish a rhythm.
American Tanner Tessmann helped Venice secure a vital three points in Serie B last week. Busio scored the winning goal for promotion-chasing Venice in a 2-1 away win against Lecco.
The USMNT midfielder helped keep the Orange Black Greens within three points of second-placed Como in the race for automatic promotion to Serie A. Both Tesman and Busio played the full 90 minutes in this game.
After trailing 1-0 at half-time, Paolo Vanoli's men staged a remarkable comeback and ultimately won the match. Joel Pogiampalo equalized in the 58th minute, but Busio scored just two minutes later to put the visitors ahead 2-1.
USMNT duo essential to success
With this victory, Venice increased their league record this season to 19 wins and 64 points. If the team continues to play like they did on Saturday, there is no doubt that they will remain in the promotion race with four games left.
Venice's success this season will depend on Busio and Tessman, who must maintain the required playing time. If Friday's matchup is any indication, Ragnarri will be playing in the most important game of the season.
In a match between two teams competing for promotion on a bye, they will take on 4th place Cremonese. So far, Winged His Lions have completely dominated Serie B, which shows they have a good chance of making it into Serie A.
What does Venice need to get promoted?
Tessman is a combination of both Michael Bradley and Walker Zimmerman, sharing their fierce competitive spirit but surpassing both of them in terms of ball control. Busio, on the other hand, is smart and has a good reading of the game, and passes the ball with ease.
They have more range than any of the team's current starters. Plus, they're both bold. Both are equally bold.
They do their best even in difficult situations. In last week's goal, Tessman nearly sent the ball out of the net on a half-volley from inside the 18-yard box. Busio had excellent assist awareness.
They have improved steadily and methodically. Rather than just throwing players into the deep end and hoping for the best, that often leads to more success down the road.
Ideally, Venice would want Parma or Como to make a mistake. A second place finish would make the road a lot easier. The deciding factor at the moment was a goal in extra time in the match between Venice and Como on March 3rd.
Considering Venice had the advantage on goal difference, they would have automatically qualified if the match had been a draw. This only shows how competitive the promotion process is.
Photo credit: IMAGO/LaPresse