Tanner Tessmann was once again a pivotal figure for Venezia in their draw at Pisa, while Sergiño Dest returned to the AC Milan roster after an injury lay-off, but couldn’t work his way onto the field.
Pisa 1 – 1 Venezia
Tanner Tessmann was the only of Venezia’s yanks to start on Friday night, playing an influential role, for better and worse, in their draw at promotion-hunting Pisa.
As has been the case lately, the American started in Venezia’s central midfield, this time playing the full 90 minutes. He had 52 touches, took three off-target shots, set up a pair of chances for teammates, beat opponents on two of three attempted dribbles, won eight of nine duels, fired off four accurate long balls in six attempts, won both of his tackles, had a pair of clearances, and recovered the ball on three occasions.
However, his evening will be most noted for a penalty he drew in the first half, and another conceded late in the second, both of which managed to end up as unnecessary frustrations for the visitors.
Gianluca Busio and Andrija Novakovich also both took the field for the Winged Lions, with the former managing four touches in a garbage-time cameo, and the latter creating a pair of chances after entering as a 76th-minute substitute.
Tessmann had an early crack at goal from distance that went well wide of the mark, however Venezia successfully stormed to the lead after 17 minutes.
The American was involved in the build-up, picking out Francesco Zampano as he raced up the left side. The Italian raced into the area and lofted a high cross to the far side, where Antonio Candela was lurking for a one-timed finish back towards the left upright.
In the 34th minute, Tessmann was tripped up while receiving the ball at the top of the area, however Joel Pohjanpalo’s initially successful spot kick was called off after VAR showed the Finn to have illegally made contact with both feet on his attempt.
The missed opportunity proved devastating, after Tessmann was judged to have brushed the ball with his hand in the 74th minute, picking up his fifth yellow of the season, and being forced to watch as Ettore Gliozzi equalized from the spot.
While keeper Jesse Joronen did save Gliozzi’s first attempt, the Finnish international did leave his line, allowing the Pisa striker to convert on his second try.
Shortly after entering the game in place of Pohjanpalo, Novakovich hit a flukey pass from just inside the area to the right which Candela nearly put away for the winner on an equally flukey deflection, however Nicolas saved the day for Pisa with a snap-second block.
In the end, the game ended with each team getting their share of the points, a result which on paper is a positive result for the struggling Venezia, but one which will still be disappointing considering how it played out.
They finish the round in 15th place, just outside of the relegation spots on goal differential, and facing a tough visit from Cagliari on Saturday.
Notes
Sergiño Dest returned to the bench for AC Milan in their 1-0 road win over Monza on Saturday, but stayed glued to the pine for the duration. His next shot for playing time will come on Sunday when the Rossoneri host Atalanta.
