Monza rout Cagliari 4-0 — with less of the ball, fewer corners and fewer passes

Eddy Kouadio opened the scoring just before half-time, and Monza did not stop there. Gustavo Varela struck twice either side of Jay Robinson's goal, and by full time the scoreline read 4-0 — comfortably Monza's biggest win of the season, and one built almost entirely against the run of the underlying numbers.

A number that stands out

Cagliari finished with 54.7% of the possession to Monza's 45.3%, won seven corners to Monza's two, and completed 430 of 503 passes (85.5%) against Monza's 345 of 416 (82.9%). By almost every passing and territorial measure, Cagliari had the better of the game. None of it mattered: Monza had six shots on target to Cagliari's five, and converted four of theirs. It is the kind of scoreline that does not show up in a possession count.

Monza end a run of five defeats in six

Before kick-off, Monza had won only once in their previous six Serie A matches: defeats to Inter and Udinese, a draw at Parma, a defeat at Lecce, a 2-1 home win over Sassuolo, and most recently a 1-3 loss at Lazio. Four goals in a single afternoon is more than they had managed in any single one of those games; it is the breakout performance a side with only nine goals scored in its first six matches needed.

Cagliari's good run comes to an abrupt stop

Cagliari arrived at the U-Power Stadium on the back of three wins and a draw in their previous four league games, having lost only once since the opening weekend, and had conceded just three goals across their first six matches — one of the tighter defensive records in Serie A at this early stage. All of that form evaporated in one evening against a side that had been struggling to keep clean sheets of its own.

Scorers

• 39' — Eddy Kouadio (Monza), assisted by Dany Mota
• 47' — Gustavo Varela (Monza), assisted by Manga Foe Ondoa
• 66' — Jay Robinson (Monza), assisted by Gustavo Varela
• 79' — Gustavo Varela (Monza)

Match facts

Line-ups

What's next

Monza went into the weekend 15th with 4 points from six games, three places and level on points with Parma and Udinese in the bottom half of the table. A 4-0 win does nothing to change the points column retroactively, but it ends a run of five defeats in six and gives a struggling side a result to point to. Cagliari, who had climbed to 7th with 13 points from six games on the back of their recent form, take the heaviest loss of their season into the next round.