Monza could have taken an early lead against their out-of-form visitors, when a clever backheel from Andrea Petagna played Gianluca Caprari in. There was a moment of real belief amongst the Monza faithful, before his shot from close range was blocked by an excellent sliding challenge from Martin Erlić. Sassuolo then took the lead in slightly comical fashion, with a poor corner from Hamed Traoré finding its way through to the captain Gian Marco Ferrari, who diverted the ball in from a few yards out to make it 1-0 with his first goal of the season.
It seemed very fitting that a Ferrari put Sassuolo in pole position at Monza, as this was the first time the Neroverdi had led away from home since October 15. Meanwhile, Monza started to visibly slump, looking some way short of this side that had clawed its way out of relegation danger. In turn, the visitors came close to doubling their lead, when Domenico Berardi’s shot from the edge of the area came back off the crossbar. It was a huge let-off for Monza, who needed a huge lift to record a fifth successive Serie A match without a loss for the first time in their history.
Having given his team the lead, Ferrari went from hero to zero in mere seconds on the hour mark. His poor clearance gave Caprari the chance to bend a curling effort into the far corner from the left side of the area, making it 1-1 with his fourth goal of the season and setting up an exciting finale in Lombardy, with the game being either side’s for the taking in the last half-hour.
Sassuolo had a great chance to restore their lead via Jeremy Toljan, who squared to an unmarked Berardi. But perhaps overexcited by the chance to score his first match-winning goal since August, he dragged his shot agonisingly wide of the left post from a matter of yards out. In response, the hosts piled the pressure on in the closing stages, but to no avail. In the end, few would argue against the final result, which keeps Monza and Sassuolo 13th and 17th respectively.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gianluca Caprari (AC Monza)
