Monza 2-1 Sassuolo: Gustavo Varela's brace ends the wait for a first win

Monza had gone four rounds without a win to open the season, and for an hour on Friday night it looked like Sassuolo — one of the form sides of the young campaign — might make it five. Instead, Gustavo Varela scored twice in the space of 12 minutes, and Monza held on through a nervy finish to win 2-1 at the U-Power Stadium and get their first three points of 2026-27 on the board.

Contrasting form coming in

The two sides arrived from opposite directions. Monza had not won any of their first four league matches — three defeats and a draw, without ever really threatening to turn that around — while Sassuolo had taken seven points from their last four, including a stoppage-time win over Juventus the round before. On paper, this read as the in-form visitors against a side still searching for a foothold.

Varela does it twice after the break

The breakthrough came in the 51st minute, when Sassuolo goalkeeper Arijanet Muric failed to deal cleanly with a corner and Varela was left with a simple task to head the loose ball in from close range. Monza doubled their lead 12 minutes later: Sebastiano Esposito fouled Dany Mota Carvalho inside the box, and Varela sent the resulting penalty away from the goalkeeper to make it 2-0. Sassuolo pulled one back in the 88th minute, when Vasilije Adzic curled a free kick in from distance, and Kieron Bowie almost forced extra drama with a stoppage-time header that came back off the post — but Monza saw out the closing minutes to close the game out 2-1. Varela was named player of the match, with a rating of 9 for his afternoon.

Outshot again, but efficient when it mattered

The numbers tell a familiar story for Monza this season: less of the ball, fewer shots, and still the team with the points. Sassuolo had five more shots and almost double Monza's share of possession, but it was Monza who converted two of their six shots on target, either side of a goalkeeping mistake and a converted penalty, while Sassuolo needed until the final minutes to make their pressure count.

Line-ups

• Monza: Törnqvist; Kouadio, Lucchesi, Carboni, Mangas, Birindelli; Akinsanmiro, Folorunsho; Robinson, Cutrone, Varela
• Sassuolo: Muric; Cinquegrano, Leysen, Caleta-Car, Doig; Bakola, Matic, Thorstvedt; Laurienté, Berardi, Esposito

Where it leaves both clubs

Matchday 5 is still being played out over the rest of the weekend, so Guriball's Serie A table is not final, but this result is already folded in. Monza move to 14th with 4 points from five matches (1 win, 1 draw, 3 losses, -4 goal difference) — still closer to the bottom three than to safety, but off the mark after a winless start. Sassuolo stay 8th on 7 points from five games (2 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses, level on goal difference); the defeat does not cost them points on the table, since they had already banked seven from their first four, but it adds a loss to a run that had looked like one of the better recent form lines in the division.

What's next

Monza will hope this is the start of the turnaround their underlying numbers this season have been pointing towards, even as the rest of the league catches up around them this weekend. Sassuolo, who had won two of their previous three before this trip to Monza, will look to bounce straight back once matchday 6 comes around.