Detroit City FC defeated Serie B club Venezia FC, 2-0, in an overall solid team effort Tuesday night in front of 5,418 supporters at Keyworth Stadium.

The victory gives Le Rouge much needed momentum as they prepare for the first round of the 2017 NPSL Midwest Region Playoffs this Saturday.

City was challenged greatly by an impressive Italian side, yet still found a way to come out on top thanks to two first-half goals from Roddy Green (28') and Elijah Rice (32'), and a clean sheet from goalkeeper and Man of the Match Fernando Piña.

Both DCFC goals came in a similar fashion. Rice set-up the first one after beating out a few Venezia defenders and sending the ball through to Green who tapped it in for the finish, and veteran Cyrus Saydee did the same when setting up Rice.

This was Detroit’s second international friendly of the season, having hosted Glentoran FC on May 27. As Serie C champions last season, Venezia will compete this season in Italy’s second division.

Historically, Venezia have played in Italy’s top two divisions. Now, led by manager Filippo Inzaghi, the Winged Lions will make a run to return to Italy’s top league.

The match kicked off with a lively pace, which led to a goal from Green in the 6th minute, but it was waved offside.

Venezia looked strong early, pressing well against Detroit’s backline. In the 17th minute, Venezia’s Gianni Fabiano had a rip from the top of the box but was denied by Piña.

Both teams were able to generate quality chances through the first 20 minutes, but each club’s defensive lines were coming up on top. Venezia controlled most of the possession early on, but it was Detroit who struck first.

In the 28th minute, Green tapped in Le Rouge’s first goal after Elijah Rice finessed the ball to him after beating a few defenders in the box.

Four minutes later, City capitalized again with its momentum. In a similar fashion to the first goal, Cyrus Saydee beat several defenders and sent a ball into Rice who tapped it by Venezia goalie Emil Audero for the goal.

There was no first half discipline and the only substitute for City was George Chomakov replacing Saydee in the 34th minute. Though Green almost scored all alone in the 41st minute, the score remained 2-0 at the break.

Head coach Ben Pirmann sent out almost an entirely new lineup to start the second half in order to get as many players as possible active before this Saturday’s critical playoff match.

Second half substitutes were Omar Sinclair, Kervin Kenton, Zach Bock, Adam Spinks, Tyler Moorman, David Dwaihy, Mauricio Castorino, Jordan Tyler and Jeff Adkins.

The second stanza took a more timid pace in the opening, but Venezia came out strong once again after play settled down. Mattia Vitale had a shot that just missed in the 52nd minute. Two minutes after, Simone Bentivoglio just missed as well overtop of the net.

The second half saw more discipline than the first, with Tyler being ejected from the match in the 65th minute with a straight red card for pushing a Venezia player after the play was dead. Then, Bentivoglio received a yellow card in the 75th minute for taking down a DCFC player.

Though City played with ten men for the final 25 minutes, they were able to deny Venezia threats in deep thanks to the defensive backline led by Bock and Kenton.

Greg Janicki (‘65) and Dylan Waugaman (‘83) also came on for some playing time as substitutes in the half.

Venezia pressed hard and challenged Detroit to close out the half, but thanks to Piña and an overall solid team effort, City was able to hang on for the shutout win.

Next up for Detroit: Playoffs. Le Rouge will meet Dakota Fusion FC at home this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the first-ever playoff match at Keyworth Stadium can be purchased here.

Detroit Starting XI: 0 Fernando Pina (GK), 4 Seb Harris, 5 Stephen Carroll, 9 Shawn Lawson, 10 Cyrus Saydee, 13 Bakie Goodman, 18 Dave Edwardson (Captain), 19 Roddy Green, 23 Zach Schewee, 32 Elijah Rice, 40 Troy Watson

Venezia Starting XI: 1 Emil Audero, 4 Vittorio Fabris, 5 Mattia Vitale, 6 Francesco Cernuto, 9 Jan Mlakar, 10 Gianni Fabiano, 13 Matteo Bruscagin, 15 Leo Stulac, 16 Nicolo Simeoni, 17 Davide Marsura, 21 Alberto Acquadro