Serie A | Monza 1-2 Udinese: Counter-attack kills hosts hopes | OneFootball

Monza still have just one league victory to their name after a 2-1 defeat at home to Udinese in Serie A on Monday evening, which has left Alessandro Nesta’s side in a troubling position in the relegation zone.

Lorenzo Lucca opened the scoring, responded to by Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, before Jaka Bijol’s eventual second-half winner.

(Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

It took just four minutes for Udinese to open the scoring on the night. It was a textbook header from the towering centre-forward, who planted a Jordan Zemura cross downwards onto the goal line and into the back of the net.

Monza wing-back Kyriakopoulos equalised with a beauty two minutes into the second-half, but the Monza fight-back was short lived in the end.

Though they had been pushing to find a winner themselves, Monza conceded again after 70 minutes, on the counter-attack this time.

Bijol covered the length of the pitch from centre-back and eventually managed to squeeze a shot through Stefano Turati from a tight angle in the area. The Monza stopper will have been disappointed at letting that one sneak past him.

Holding out for another victory on the road, Udinese are now back up to ninth place in the league standings with 20 points from their first 15 matdhes of the season. Milan and Bologna are both in sixth and seventh place with 22 points, but they have played one game fewer than Udinese.

Monza, meanwhile, remain rooted in the relegation zone with just one league win on their record this term.

Full-time: Monza 1-2 Udinese

Lucca (U) 4’, Kyriakopoulos (M) 47’, Bijol (U) 70’.