Both sides struggled to take control of the early stages, but while Sebastiano Luperto’s exquisite ninth-minute pass to Martin Satriano didn’t earn the assist it deserved, it did seem to kick Empoli into gear. Just moments later, Satriano was denied by Michele Di Gregorio again but the ball bounced off Luca Caldirola, onto the goalkeeper and into the path of Nicolas Haas who converted for his first goal of the season.
Having aggressively defended their lead, Gli Azzurri came agonisingly close to doubling it as Mattia Destro latched onto Liam Henderson’s free-kick delivery, only to be denied by the post. Empoli certainly played on the edge at times, picking up three yellow cards inside the opening half-hour, but their approach worked as Monza didn’t record a single shot on target before half-time. Although, this was helped by Carlos Augusto making a complete mess of the visitors’ best chance seconds before the whistle was blown.
Destro got the slightest of touches on another Henderson set-piece shortly after the restart, but this time he was found to be offside after hitting the back of the net. It wasn’t long until Gli Azzurri were again left incredulously wondering how they didn’t have a second.
Tommaso Baldanzi won possession to start a move that culminated in his shot being cleared off the line by Giulio Donati and Destro’s following header going wide. At the other end, Guglielmo Vicario bravely dived in front of Christian Gytkjær as the ball bounced precariously across the six-yard box with Monza pushing for an equaliser.
Having conceded three late goals in the previous two games, Vicario made a superb stop to deny Marco D’Alessandro and ensure it didn’t happen again as Empoli valiantly secured their first home win since April to usurp Monza, who went down to ten-men in stoppage-time when Nicolo Rovella was sent off.
Victory for Empoli secured their first home win since April to usurp Monza in the SA table, and the result also ended The Biancorossi’s four-match unbeaten run, with Raffaele Palladino’s side having only taken four points from their five away matches this term.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sebastiano Luperto (Empoli)