2021–22 AC Monza season

Overview

Monza began the season under Giovanni Stroppa, who was appointed in place of Cristian Brocchi.^[9] They played their first game on 21 August 2021, drawing 0–0 to Reggina away from home.^[10] Monza's first three points came on 29 August, in their first game at home, in a 1–0 win against Cremonese; Christian Gytkjær scored Monza's first league goal of the season, assisted by Pedro Pereira.^[11] In September, Monza opened with two 1–1 draws, to SPAL and Ternana respectively,^[12][13] before losing their first league game on 21 September, in a 2–1 defeat to Pisa.^[14] They ended the month in 11th place, with a 3–1 win over Pordenone from a comeback.^[15] On 1 October, Monza suffered a heavy defeat away to Lecce, with the 3–0 result moving Monza to 13th place.^[16]

Between 17 October and 11 December, Monza went through a 10-game unbeaten streak;^[17] they alternated away draws (to Parma, Vicenza, Crotone and Ascoli) to home wins (against Cittadella, Alessandria, Como and Cosenza), finishing with wins against Brescia and Frosinone in December. Key moments included Marco D'Alessandro's stoppage-time goal to help Monza beat Cittadella 1–0,^[18] José Machín's 30-meter goal in the 88th-minute which helped his side win 3–2 against Como,^[19] Dany Mota's consecutive braces at home against Como and Cosenza,^[20] and Monza's first away win of the season, a 2–0 victory over Brescia on 5 December.^[21] Thanks to their unbeaten streak, Monza climbed eight places and headed into 2022 in joint-third place.^[22]

Monza began the new year poorly, losing 3–1 away to Benevento;^[23] a 2–2 home draw to Perugia via a Patrick Ciurria stoppage-time penalty goal meant that Monza finished the first leg in sixth place.^[24] Their last game of the month was a 1–0 home win against Reggina.^[25] In February, after wins against SPAL and Ternana,^[26][27] Monza lost their first home game of the season after 11 matches, in a 2–1 defeat against Pisa.^[28] After a 4–1 away win to Pordenone thanks to a Mattia Valoti brace,^[29] Monza lost at home once again (1–0 to Lecce), closing February in sixth place.^[30] Monza went unbeaten in March, drawing once and winning four times; they climbed three positions, ending the month in third position.^[31] Most of their points came via last-minute goals, in the draw against Parma,^[32] and wins against Cittadella and Crotone.^[33][34]

After losing to rivals Como in April,^[35] Monza won against Ascoli and Cosenza 2–0, with Valoti and Gytkjær scoring a goal each in both games.^[36][37] With the two wins, Monza climbed to second place for the first time in the season, in a spot for direct promotion.^[37] Despite losing crucial points to Brescia and Frosinone,^[38][39] other results went in Monza's favour, who only dropped one position.^[40] They defeated fourth placed Benevento 3–0 at home via a Mota brace, and surpassed Cremonese in second place.^[41] Monza headed into the final matchday in May against Perugia needing a win for automatic Serie A promotion;^[42] Perugia won 1–0 and Monza finished the season in fourth place, qualifying to the promotion play-offs.^[43]

Matches

Results list Monza's goal tally first.^[44]

League table

Overview

Having finished the regular season in fourth place, Monza gained direct access to the semi-finals of the promotion play-offs.^[46] They played against Brescia, winning both legs 2–1.^[47][48] On 26 May 2022, Monza played the first leg of the play-off final against Pisa; after leading 2–0, Monza conceded in stoppage time, with the match finishing 2–1.^[49]

Three days later, on 29 May, the two sides played the second leg in Pisa. After only nine minutes, the home side were leading 2–0. Machín's 20th-minute goal shortened the distance. In the second half, Gytkjær's 79th-minute equalizer meant that Monza were only 11 minutes from Serie A promotion. However, a last-minute goal by Pisa's Giuseppe Mastinu forced the game into extra time. Goals by Luca Marrone and Gytkjær gave Monza the win, and their first promotion to the Serie A.^[50] Gytkjær finished the play-offs with five goals in four games, and was nominated MVP of the play-offs.^[51]

Matches

Results list Monza's goal tally first.

Bracket

Summer

More information Date, Pos. ...

Arrivals

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Type	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2021	MF	Marco Brescianini	AC Milan	Loan	N/A	[56]
	MF	Antonis Siatounis	Sampdoria	Free transfer	N/A	[57]
9 July 2021	MF	Luca Mazzitelli	Sassuolo	Permanent	Undisclosed[a]	[59]
12 July 2021	MF	Mattia Valoti	SPAL	Loan	N/A	[60]
17 July 2021	DF	Luca Caldirola	Benevento	Permanent	Undisclosed[b]	[61]
23 July 2021	DF	Pedro Pereira	Benfica	Loan	N/A	[62]
31 July 2021	FW	Patrick Ciurria	Pordenone	Permanent	Undisclosed[c]	[64]
11 August 2021	MF	Samuele Vignato	Chievo	Free transfer	N/A	[65]
27 August 2021	DF	Valentin Antov	CSKA Sofia	Loan	N/A	[66]
31 August 2021	FW	Andrea Favilli	Genoa	Loan	N/A	[67]
	DF	Luca Marrone	Crotone	Permanent	Undisclosed	[68]
Other transfers[note 2]
Date	Pos.	Name	From	Type	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2021	GK	Michele Di Gregorio	Inter Milan	Loan	N/A	[69]
	DF	Stefano Negro	Perugia	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	Alessandro Di Munno	Pro Sesto	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	Marco Fossati	Hajduk Split	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	Luca Lombardi	Teramo	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	José Machín	Pescara	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	Tommaso Morosini	Feralpisalò	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	Nicola Mosti	Ascoli	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	Andrea Palazzi	Palermo	Return from loan	N/A
	MF	Nicola Rigoni	Pescara	Return from loan	N/A
	FW	Mattia Finotto	Pordenone	Return from loan	N/A
	FW	Ettore Gliozzi	Cosenza	Return from loan	N/A
14 July 2021	DF	Lorenzo Pirola	Inter Milan	Loan	N/A	[70]

Close

More information Date, Pos. ...

Departures

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Type	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2021	MF	Kevin-Prince Boateng	Released[d]		N/A	[71]
	FW	Mario Balotelli	Released[e]		N/A	[72]
	MF	Davide Frattesi	Sassuolo	Return from loan	N/A
	FW	Federico Ricci	Sassuolo	Return from loan	N/A
7 July 2021	MF	Andrea D'Errico	Released[f]		N/A	[74]
8 July 2021	FW	Davide Diaw	Vicenza	Loan	N/A	[75]
	FW	Edoardo Colferai	Villa Valle	Permanent	Undisclosed	[76]
13 July 2021	DF	Filippo Scaglia	Como	Permanent	Undisclosed	[77]
17 August 2021	FW	Mirko Marić	Crotone	Loan	N/A	[78]
24 August 2021	MF	Marco Armellino	Modena	Permanent	Undisclosed	[79]
27 August 2021	MF	Nicola Rigoni	Cesena	Loan	N/A	[80]
31 August 2021	MF	Marco Fossati	Hajduk Split	Permanent	Undisclosed	[81]
	DF	Armando Anastasio	Reggiana	Loan	N/A	[82]
Other transfers[note 3]
Date	Pos.	Name	To	Type	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2021	GK	Michele Di Gregorio	Inter Milan	Return from loan	N/A	[69]
	DF	Lorenzo Pirola	Inter Milan	Return from loan	N/A	[70]
16 July 2021	MF	Nicola Mosti	Modena	Loan	N/A	[83]
20 July 2021	MF	Luca Lombardi	Vis Pesaro	Loan	N/A	[84]
10 August 2021	FW	Ettore Gliozzi	Como	Permanent	Undisclosed	[85]
26 August 2021	MF	Alessandro Di Munno	Lecco	Permanent	Undisclosed	[86]
	MF	Tommaso Morosini	Lecco	Loan	N/A	[86]
31 August 2021	MF	Andrea Palazzi	Alessandria	Permanent	Undisclosed	[87]
	DF	Stefano Negro	Triestina	Permanent	Undisclosed	[88]

Close

Winter

More information Date, Pos. ...

Arrivals

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Type	Fee	Ref.
7 December 2021	MF	Gastón Ramírez	Unattached	Free transfer	N/A	[89]
5 January 2022	MF	Salvatore Molina	Crotone	Permanent	Undisclosed	[90]
20 January 2022	FW	Leonardo Mancuso	Empoli	Two-year loan	N/A	[91]
Other transfers[note 2]
Date	Pos.	Name	From	Type	Fee	Ref.
26 January 2022	DF	Armando Anastasio	Reggiana	Return from loan	N/A	[92]

Close

More information Date, Pos. ...

Departures

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Type	Fee	Ref.
4 January 2021	DF	Giuseppe Bellusci	Ascoli	Loan	N/A	[93]
12 January 2021	FW	Mattia Finotto	SPAL	Permanent	Undisclosed	[94]
12 January 2021	MF	Antonino Barillà	Released[g]		N/A	[95]
Other transfers[note 3]
Date	Pos.	Name	To	Type	Fee	Ref.
26 January 2021	DF	Armando Anastasio	Pordenone	Six-month loan	N/A	[92]

Close