Monza beats Udinese 2-1: Caprari and Keità Balde avoid negative record in Serie A

by Alessandro StellaAt least the honour is safe. Despite the relegation already certain, the Monza finally finds a spark of pride and beats 2-1Udinese on the road thanks to Goats e Keita Balde. The three points, useless for the standings, have a symbolic value: the Brianza team avoids the negative record of the team with the fewest points in the history of the Serie A to 20 clubs. The red and whites find that victory that was missing for four months and away from home since October 21st. The coach also smiles Alexander Nesta (pictured), with his first win after his return to Brianza in mid-February: "We avoided at least one negative record. Now we want to beat Empoli at home to give our fans something to cheer about and then finish well at San Siro against Milan. We have never managed to find a solution this season, three wins are too few to hold on to any hope. From a certain point on we were unable to turn things around and relegation became inevitable". Coming to the match, a two-sided match for Monza, passive in the first half, courageous in the second. Nesta started with Pizzignacco, Brorsson and Forson: good performance from all three players who are owned by the Brianza team and will probably be regulars in Serie B too. In the first half, the red and whites almost never got past the opponent's half with the ball at their feet, except for a personal effort in the 45th minute by Forson who smothered a diagonal shot out of bounds. Despite the slow pace, Udinese were making the game, but the Bianconeri only came close to taking the lead in the 27th minute: after a good move in midfield, Solet tried to make a run into the area, only to be met with a good diving response from Pizzignacco.

After the break, however, the Lombards come back with a different attitude. And in the 7th minute they unlock: a disruptive ride by Birindelli on the wing, a right-footed shot on the post and Caprari, falling, hits the net with his shoulder. The home team tries to react by focusing on the height of the substitute Lucca. The centre forward proves to be the most dangerous of his team and in the 30th minute he equalizes with a great cross shot on an assist from Karlstrom. Lucca himself comes close to doubling the score on two other occasions, but Monza saves himself and strikes again in transition. In the 45th minute Ciurria crosses into the area where Zeroli heads it to Keità who beats Okoye. Great celebration for the Senegalese centre forward, determined to end his adventure in the red and white jersey in the best possible way.