A disappointing match for Cagliari, who, after three away wins out of three, suffered a disappointing defeat in Monza: the Brianza team won 4-0, running riot in the second half.
Pisacane, suspended and replaced on the bench by Murelli, changed formation and switched to a 4-3-1-2 with Maldini behind the Mendy-Nzola duo . Birindelli had the first shot in the fourth minute, from the edge of the box, with Caprile controlling it to go wide. There were no particular moments for the next quarter of an hour, then in the 16th minute Romano unleashed a powerful left-footed curler that went just over the top corner. A minute later, at the other end, Dany Mota fired again with his left foot, and his shot was central: Caprile saved.
In his first start for the Rossoblu, Nzola nearly took the lead in the 20th minute when Mendy played him through on goal: his left-footed shot in the penalty area was denied by Törnqvist . The Monza goalkeeper also denied him in the 27th minute, when Mendy broke away on the right and, alone in front of the Brianza goalkeeper, fired a powerful right-footed shot, only to be saved again. For Monza, in the 39th minute, Dany Mota and Varela attempted a one-two, but the former mishandled the ball and it went wide.
In a dramatic change of pace, Monza scored in the 40th minute. A loose ball in midfield by Maldini provided a counterattack for Kouadio, who, fresh from his first international call-up, exchanged passes with Dany Mota, who sent him through on goal, and his shot went past Caprile . Cagliari responded before halftime in the 42nd minute with a rebound that allowed Romano to fire wide from the edge of the box. The break went into halftime after a minute of added time and an unsuccessful attempt by Maldini.
The second half was played without changes, but within two minutes Monza scored again: Foe Ondoa ran down the right, played back into the box to Varela, whose angled shot left Caprile no chance . Cagliari stumbled and looked in danger again in the 51st minute, when Dany Mota got away from Rodríguez on the right and fired from the edge of the box. Caprile's save wasn't stylistically perfect, but he repeated the save from Varela (who, however, was offside).
The Pisacane-Murelli duo brought off Nzola in the 53rd minute, bringing on Fadera, and Cagliari returned to a 4-3-2-1 formation. In the 62nd minute, they had a double chance: first, from a Romano corner, Mina's header was blocked by Törnqvist, then a scramble in the box saw Zé Pedro's shot blocked by Akinsanmiro. But it was Monza who scored again, with Varela threading a pass down the left to Robinson in the 66th minute, who outplayed Zé Pedro and had no trouble beating Caprile again .
Immediately after the 3-0, Maldini (a lackluster performance and a fifth consecutive goal) was replaced by Kevin Carlos and Zé Pedro by Sugawara. A 70th-minute run from Fadera on the left found Mendy in the six-yard box, but he wasn't perfectly coordinated enough to turn the ball into the net. Monza could have scored again, but Colpani's left-footed shot (72') hit the post and Caprile – who had been standing still and watching – found himself with the ball in his hands .
The match was finally over in the 79th minute, when Robinson hit the post and Varela tapped in with an empty net to make it 4-0 . Substitutions followed, with Monza bringing off Kouadio, Akinsanmiro, and Varela for Bakoune, the other former Folorunsho player, and Cutrone, while Cagliari brought on Deiola for Romano and Liteta for the booked Winks. Kevin Carlos tried twice to find at least a consolation goal, but Törnqvist was having a superb day and denied him. A tough defeat for the Rossoblu.
