The Brianza team, who haven’t won a home match since 16 March, deluded themselves after Kyriakopoulos’ equaliser, but were exposed and were punished on the counterattack by the Slovenian centre-back
A lot of heart, but little luck and above all too much confusion. The cocktail is lethal for a Monza team anxious about performance for a home victory that has been missing in the league for nine months now (16 March, 1-0 against Cagliari) and instead a Udinese drunk with joy that is far from perfect but cynical in resisting to the outbursts of the home team and then landing lethal shots on the restart. Three points that are worth ninth place alone, while Nesta remains penultimate with just one point ahead of bringing up Venezia (the ranking).
first half
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Nesta’s team starts at full strength, but goes behind at the first restart: in the 6th minute Thauvin sets the ball on the right, Zemura passes from the left and Lucca takes the lead from Marì. Monza feels the pinch, clarity is an option and Udinese, lined up for the occasion with 4-4-2 also due to the absence of the suspended Touré, proves to be an accordion good at closing with two aggressive lines and then opening up thanks to the craft of Thauvin, a refined offensive director, and to the banks of Lucca. The former Pisa player doubled the lead in the 13th minute following an assist from the Frenchman, but he had sprinted just over the line. Monza feels the pinch, dances behind and struggles to trigger Maldini and Djuric because there is no passing on the flanks and in the center the Lovric-Bijol axis holds up great. And when Pereira (36′) finds the right impulse, Giannetti is exalted in the closure which avoids the equalizer. The pressure, however, becomes suffocating
second half
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Monza restarts at full speed and immediately finds the equalizer with a central breakthrough by Maldini and the decisive thrust by Kyriakopoulos. Action started on the left by Bianco, against whom Kristensen had performed poorly, having just come on in place of Zarraga to switch to 3-5-2. Udinese seems to have remained in the changing rooms, Monza is close to overtaking with Maldini and Caprari, but above all Djuric whose header is miraculous by Sava. The script is now flipped, with Bianco and Bondo turning up the volume and Nesta’s wingers finally standing tall. Monza, however, is unable to manage the physiological decline in the middle of the second half and after having blocked Thauvin, Turati is not faultless on the diagonal of Bijol, who closes a counterattack started by the Frenchman and finished by Ekkelenkamp, who moved from winger to midfielder, with the Slovenian’s right-footed shot it passes between the goalkeeper’s legs and ends up in the far corner. Nesta tries everything, first throws Mota, Sensi and Forson into the fray, then even the second tower Maric in place of Maldini. The Friulian dam held until the end.
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