With goals from Dany Mota Carvalho and Andrea Petagna, Monza handed Scudetto winners Napoli their only other loss in Serie A this season. Monza’s victory was only their fourth overall.
While the visitors had already ensured their place in Serie A, Napoli were still in the midst of celebrating their championship and decided to give Giovanni Di Lorenzo an unusual day off. On the examination table with the doctor were Andrea Colpani, Mario Rui, and Lozano.
Piotr Zielinski, who was the captain of Napoli, came close to scoring after just 12 seconds when he missed the near post with a shot from a tight angle after receiving an assist from Victor Osimhen.
After that, Juan Jesus deflected Dany Mota Carvalho’s attempt just wide of the goal. Rovella was the catalyst for a well-executed counterattack by Monza, which led to Gianluca Caprari, Carlos Augusto, and Matteo Pessina combining to set up Mota Carvalho for the goal that gave Monza the lead. Mota Carvalho’s goal was scored at the far post.
Andrea Petagna had a chance to score from 12 yards out after being set up by Carlos Augusto, but the striker lost his footing and shot high. Meanwhile for Napoli, Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa pricked Di Gregorio’s gloves with the inside of his right boot.
Petagna, a former striker for Napoli, scored the second goal shortly after the game was restarted by firing the ball low into the near bottom corner. This came after Mota Carvalho had forced Pierluigi Gollini to make a save at the near post.
Moments later, there was almost a third goal when Gollini dove to his left to palm away a shot from Mota Carvalho that was coming from a difficult angle. This happened after an error by Zielinski had sparked the counterattack.
After a free kick, Di Gregorio dove to his knees and fingertipped the Mathias Olivera header away from the goal line at the bottom corner. Osimhen had his penalty appeals for a collision with Pessina waved away, and Di Gregorio saved the day.
Zielinski tested Di Gregorio with a rocket from a distance. Petagna put the team at risk of scoring an own goal, and Giovanni Simeone’s back-heel flick presented little challenge for the goalkeeper.
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