Two goals in full injury time after 90 minutes of yawning. Lecce-Monza ends 1-1 but what thrills at the end. A Eurogoal from Krtovic in the 92nd minute, after more than three months of abstinence, seemed to give Lecce three points with the scent of virtual salvation, making the start of the Sea explode. A right-footed shot into the corner confirms the Apulians as the team most capable of changing everything after time expires, but immediately afterwards, as soon as the match restarts, the referee Santoro sees a touch of Venuti’s hands in the area and awards a penalty which Pessina converts for the final draw. After a boring first half and without any real scoring opportunities, the match revived a little – really a little – in the second half when Krstovic tried to give a shock and came close to scoring a couple of times but Monza always defended well , closes the lines and concedes very little. Only one thrill before the 90th minute when first Gallo did everything well in the Monza area except for the final shot and immediately afterwards Colpani missed his aim from a good position on the volley. The goalless draw it seemed the faithful mirror of what had (not) been seen but the end of recovery provided the strongest emotions. With this result the Apulians – who were coming off two victories in a row – rise to 36 points, still in an area of absolute tranquility, while the Brianza team, 11th with 44 points, can still fuel the feeble flame of European dreams.
Lecce-Monza, the tactical key of the match
No more 4-2-3-1 for the Lecce who, since the 3-0 victory against Sassuolo, reconfirms the 4-4-2 with Piccoli and Krstovic lined up forward. Gotti ducks Oudin as an attacking midfielder to right winger and confirm Dorgu on the left. For PalladinoHowever, nothing new: usual 4-2-3-1 with Columbus first tip, supported by Carboni, Pessina behind him and Zerbin on the left. Long study phase for both teams who in the first half hour, also thanks to the great heat, did not sink the ball and remained cautious and not very offensive. In the last 15 minutes of the first half it is the Lecce maneuvering from belowhe builds the game and makes himself dangerous several times going forward.
In the second half it is Lecce who pushes and tries to win the match but Monza is skilled in the covering phase and doubles up on the two Giallorossi central attacks, preventing them from scoring. Gotti’s team then tries the alternative of the external lanes to make themselves more dangerous going forward with Gallo reaches the depths several times.
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The tops and flops of Lecce
- Krstovic 7. His late goal cancels out a terrible performance: a shot from the edge of the penalty area beats Di Gregorio.
- Pongracic 6. Not very attentive to Colombo’s insertions but good at closing on him.
- Rooster 6. He pushes hard and becomes dangerous at the end of the match in the 87th minute when he takes out Colpani with a feint but kicks too weakly towards the goal.
- Gendrey 6. At the start of the match he was blocked by Zerbin who passed behind him and then attempted an assist. He improves in the second half in the push phase.
- Oudin 5.5. As a right winger he is too far from the goal, he is unable to get down the flank as much as he would like and tends to center himself
- Small 5. Away from goal, never dangerous going forward. Closed by Izzo who masters the defensive phase.
- Dorgu 5. Very few offensive progressions along the left wing, never dangerous.
- Came 5. In the 94th minute he conceded a penalty to Monza for an avoidable handball, caused by excessive enthusiasm in the jump on D’Ambrosio.
The tops and flops of Monza
- Pessina 6.5. Incredible coolness when in the 94th minute he takes a penalty and equalises. Not a top performance saved by the final goal.
- Pablo Mari 6. Little work to do with Krstovic who drops in the second half, closing on the Montenegrin with skill.
- Izzo 6. Skilled in defensive closures on Piccoli, he does not allow the opponent to be dangerous in the area.
- Valentin Carboni 5.5. Never dangerous going forward, low pace of play. Slow on restarts.
- Zerbin 5.5. It lights up at the start of the race but then adapts to the race pace until it completely disappears from the field.
- Columbus 5. In the 43rd minute he did well to get in deep but, once in the area, he missed the opportunity to score.
- Akpa Akpro 5. Slow in the interdiction phase, he suffers in the rhythm of restarts and tends to struggle.
Lecce-Monza: the match scoreboard
Lecce (4-4-2): Falcone; Gendrey (37′ st Venuti), Pongracic, Baschirotto, Gallo; Oudin (37′ st Pierotti), Blin, Rafia (16′ st Gonzalez), Dorgu (23′ st Almqvist); Krstovic, Piccoli (16′ st Sansone). All. Gotti.
Monza (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Birindelli, Izzo (36′ st D’Ambrosio), Pablo Marì, Kyriakopoulos; Akpa Akpro (23′ st Gagliardini), Bondo; Carboni (14′ st Colpani), Pessina, Zerbin (23′ st Maldini); Colombo (14′ st Djuric). All. Palladino
Referee: Santoro of Messina
Networks: 45’+3′ st Krstovic (L), 45’+5′ st Pessina pen. (M)
Note: yellow cards 15′ st Colombo (M), 25′ st Oudin (L), 25′ st Izzo (M), 25′ st Krstovic (L), 32′ st Gagliardini (M)
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