After 19 years and an intermittent crash, FC Venice returns to fourth division in the Italian Serie A. The club was enough in a dramatic play-off second leg for promotion against neighbors AS Cittadella 1: 1 (0: 1).
Riccardo Bocalon scored the decisive equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time, when Venice played twice undernumbered. Pasquale Mazzocchi (36th minute) and Mattia Aramu (70th) were sent off. Venice won the first leg 1-0.
Venice was declared bankrupt three times (2005, 2009, 2015) after relegation from Serie A in 2002. In 2016, the club played in the fourth-class Serie D, before the athletic ascent began with coach Filippo Inzaghi, among others.
The encounter had been brought forward from 9:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. due to the curfew, which began at 11 p.m. Spectators were not allowed in the Pierluigi Penzo stadium, which was mainly accessible by water.
Before Venice, FC Empoli and US Salernitana had already been promoted to Serie A.
