Udinese Cashes In on Corners to Sink Monza at the U-Power Stadium

It took just eight minutes for the U-Power Stadium to swing from hope to bewilderment. Monza had leveled at 1-1 with a fine goal from Andrea Colpani, but between the 44th and 47th minutes Udinese struck twice to make it 1-3 at halftime. In the end it finished 2-3 for the Friulians, who weathered a second-half surge from the home side to take all three points in Serie A.

Monza started the sharper side, creating chances through Manga Foe Ondoa and Patrick Cutrone but without reward. The first blow came in the 31st minute: Jakub Piotrowski finished with his left foot from the center of the box after an assist from Hassane Kamara to make it 0-1. Monza responded quickly, and five minutes later, in the 36th, Andrea Colpani drew things level with an easy low finish set up by Ricardo Mangas.

The equalizer did not last long. Right before the break, in the 44th minute, Kamara popped up outside the box to curl a shot into the top corner from a corner kick, restoring his side's lead. And the decisive blow came just as the second half got underway, technically closing out the first-half scoring sequence: in the 47th minute, with stoppage time still fresh, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp made it 1-3, also from outside the box and also into the top corner, again off a corner kick. Two near-identical goals, two set pieces that Monza simply could not defend.

The second half was a different story. Monza came out with more intensity and got their reward in the 62nd minute: Gustavo Varela headed home from a cross by Ebenezer Akinsanmiro to make it 2-3, finding the top corner. That goal opened the game up, and the home side laid siege for long stretches, with chances for Andrea Carboni and Dany Mota, but they lacked the finishing touch to complete the comeback. Udinese, with substitutes Idrissa Gueye and Oier Zarraga on the field, managed the space well and saw the result out.

What the numbers say

Monza had somewhat more possession and more total shots, but Udinese was more clinical at the key moments of the match.

The xG generated in the match, calculated after the fact from the shots taken, actually favors Monza, with 1.989 against Udinese's 0.813. That's a sign the home side created more and better chances, but Friulian efficiency on corners and from mid-range shots ended up outweighing Monza's volume of play.

The buildup had pointed to a much tighter match than the final score suggested: our projection gave Monza a 30% chance of winning, 31% for a draw and 39% for Udinese, with expected goals of 1.08 for the home side and 1.27 for the visitors, a combined total of 2.35. The result blew past that total, five goals in all, and confirmed the lean toward an away win, though by a wider margin than expected.

What the result means in the standings

Udinese moves to 4 points in its group of the table, sitting second with a game in hand on leaders Milan, who have 6. Monza, on the other hand, is still searching for its first points: the club has 0 points from two matches played, with two losses and a goal difference of -4, stuck near the bottom of the table. The gap between the two sides ahead of kickoff was 4 points, and today's result did nothing but widen the divide between one team's ambitions and the other's urgent need for results.