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Gianluca Busio's world-class free kick up for AT&T MLS Goal of the Week

It should come as no surprise that one of the greatest strikes in Sporting Kansas City history is up for AT&T MLS Goal of the Week.


Midfielder Gianluca Busio set Children's Mercy Park and the social media world ablaze Saturday night when his 30-yard free kick curled in off the post to spark a thrilling 3-2 comeback win over Houston Dynamo FC, punctuating an emotional return to full capacity at Sporting's world-class stadium.


Fans can vote Busio's long-range stunner for AT&T MLS Goal of the Week at Twitter.com/MLS or in the poll below.

Busio delivered a career performance on Saturday to land himself a spot on the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi. One day after turning 19 years old, the Sporting KC Academy product had a goal and an assist for the first time in his 56-game regular season career while also completing 72 of 79 passes at a clip of 91.1%. The all-action midfielder also hit game-highs in chances created (three), tackles (three), duels (13) and possessions won (11).


In addition to bagging his otherworldly free kick, Busio tallied what ultimately stood as the match-winning assist in the 65th minute. A flowing counterattack saw the 19-year-old receive a pass from Khiry Shelton near the top of the box, spin and spread a well-weighted ball to Gadi Kinda, whose side-footed finish made the score 3-1 and effectively sealed the victory.

ā€œ(Busio) is not only an incredible talent, but he's incredibly mature for his age,ā€ said his manager Peter Vermes. ā€œThe things that he's able to pull off on a regular basis, and do it consistently, is incredible.ā€


ā€œHe plays every game better than his last game,ā€ said his teammate Kinda. ā€œI've never seen a 19-year-old play like this. I love to see him play. He's a top-level player.ā€


Busio and Sporting are off next weekend and will return to action on June 12 when expansion club Austin FC visits Children’s Mercy Park in a 2 p.m. CT kickoff on Univision, Bally Sports Kansas City Plus and Bally Sports Midwest Plus. Tickets for the contest are available at SeatGeek.com as Sporting battles for a fourth successive win.