Gianluca Busio helped Venezia pull free of the relegation zone in a narrow home win over Fiorentina, while Andrija Novakovich netted his first of the season for Frosinone.
Venezia FC 1 – 0 Fiorentina
Gianluca Busio once again played a major role in Venezia’s positive outing, helping to set up the lone goal of the game as they held off Fiorentina on Monday night.
Tanner Tessmann was on the bench for the hosts, but was not called into action.
As is becoming typical for the young American, Busio played a key role in the team’s midfield for the full 90 minutes, getting off one shot and completing 83% of his passes, in addition to his role in the winning score.
Overall, the game was a tight affair, with the hosts benefitting from the excellent goalkeeping play of new arrival Sergio Romero, longtime Manchester United backup and 96-times capped Argentinean international.
Nevertheless, it took a moment of precision on the part of the attack to open the door with the 36th-minute score.
Receiving the ball at the right edge of the field just beyond the midfield stripe, Busio picked out Thomas Henry darting towards the area with an inch-perfect lob over the defense that landed directly at his feet. With the Fiorentina keeper having committed to his side, the French attacker slid a sideways pass over to Mattia Aramu, who calmly put his low shot away into the open net.
The Venezia defense effectively locked down their area following the goal, with Michael Svoboda and Ridgeciano Haps putting in particularly strong performances in the back. Their case was helped in the final 15 minutes when Fiorentina winger Riccardo Sottil was shown a second yellow, perhaps harshly, leaving his team with an insurmountable task of catching up while being a man down.
The victory, their first at home and second overall this season, lifts Venezia clear of the relegation places into 15th. They have a short week until their next league game, with a visit to 14th-place Sassuolo on Saturday afternoon.
Cosenza Calcio 1 – 1 Frosinone Calcio
Andrija Novakovich made the most of his second-half substitute appearance for Frosinone, as his late goal rescued a point on the road for the team against Cosenza in Serie B action.
The hosts were first on the board when they were generously gifted a goal by their visitors; Giuseppe Caso was hit on both sides by two Frosinone defenders as he worked his way into the right side of the area, and Gabriele Gori nailed the resulting spot kick for the 20th-minute advantage.
With his team still trailing, the American striker was brought in by head coach Fabio Grosso at the 57-minute mark in place of Camillo Ciano, and needed barely less than a quarter-hour to turn the tide.
The scoring sequence was initiated when Cosenza keeper Mauro Vigorito’s pass under pressure to his defense was intercepted by French striker Gabriel Charpentier, who quickly advanced towards goal before shifting the ball left to Daniel Boloca. Rather than dribble at Vigorito, who had been tempted off his line, he picked out Novakovich just inside of the spot for an uncontested strike into the empty net.
The point leaves Frosinone within shooting distance of the top-eight promotion playoff spots, with 11 points from their first eight games. They are back in action on Saturday with a home matchup against Ascoli.
Notes
Both Weston McKennie and Bryan Reynolds were unused substitutes for their respective teams on Sunday evening as Juventus took the 1-0 home win over AS Roma. Both players will hope to participate in their teams’ midweek European games, with Juventus visiting Zenit St. Petersburg in Champions League Action on Wednesday, and Roma traveling north to Norwegians Bodö/Glimt on Thursday in the Europa Conference League.
Giuseppe Barone didn’t suit up for Ascoli on Saturday for their 1-1 home draw against Lecce.
