UNDER 20: BAGNASCHI AND BALLABIO SEAL MONZA’S VICTORY

At the Centro Sportivo Silvio and Luigi Berlusconi-Monzello, the clash between AC Monza and Hellas Verona FC ends 2-0: the biancorossi dominate from the start and deservedly take the win.

The hosts begin very strongly and after just three minutes create their first big chance of the match. Following a corner, the ball falls to Mout at the edge of the box, but his left-footed effort drifts just wide.

At 6' Verona push forward and a quick move allows De Battisti to get a shot away inside the penalty area. Colonnese, however, does brilliantly to block.

The tempo is already extremely high.

Monza come very close to taking the lead at 15'. Attinasi delivers a corner and finds Fogliaro making a run to the near post; he connects well with a header but strikes the inside of the post. The loose ball falls to Colonnese, whose close-range effort seems destined for the net, but the visiting goalkeeper somehow clears it off the line by mere centimeters, despite strong protests from the Brianza side.

A few minutes later, Attinasi forces Castagnini into a superb save from distance, tipping the ball out from under the crossbar. From the resulting corner, first Reita’s left-footed shot and then Ballabio’s right-footed attempt are both cleared almost off the line by the Verona defense.

The team coached by Oscar Brevi control the game, making the most of crosses and the pace down both flanks, while Verona sit deep and look to counterattack.

At 36', another big chance falls to the hosts. From yet another Attinasi cross, Ballabio times his run into the box but volleys narrowly wide. The first half ends goalless.

The second half opens with Bagnaschi’s goal. After a high turnover, Mout drives forward to the edge of the area and then perfectly times a pass for his overlapping captain, who beats Castagnini.

The visitors respond at 13': Popović strikes powerfully from distance, but Vailati gathers the ball safely.

At 20' Monza double their lead. Reita sends Mout through on goal; Castagnini makes a brilliant save on the number 19’s first effort but can do nothing about Ballabio’s tap-in. It’s 2-0 and the home crowd erupts.

At 39' Akalé heads toward goal and tests Vailati, who pushes the ball out for a corner.

The visitors press hard in the closing stages, but the Villa-Colonnese-Azarovs defensive line proves impenetrable and concedes nothing, as Verona struggle to create truly dangerous chances throughout the match.

At the final whistle, matchday 26 ends 2-0.

In the next round, scheduled for Saturday 28th February at 3:00 PM, AC Monza will travel to face US Cremonese.

AC MONZA-HELLAS VERONA FC 2-0

SCORERS: 3’ st Bagnaschi (MON), 20’ st Ballabio (MON)

AC MONZA: Vailati, Bagnaschi, Azarovs, Villa, Colonnese, Buonaiuto, Reita (Gaye 42’ st), Attinasi (De Bonis 42’ st), Mout (Ganci 44’ st), Ballabio (Romanini 44’ st), Fogliaro (Fardin 37’ st). Substitutes: Montagna, Treffiletti, Castelli, Albè. Coach: Oscar Brevi

HELLAS VERONA FC: Castagnini, Popović, Martini (Akalé 10’ st), Vermesan (Casagrande 25’ st), De Battisti, Monticelli, De Rossi (Mendolia 17’ st), Feola, Yildiz, Barry, Peci. Substitutes: Tommasi, Garofalo, Pinessi, Stella, Tagne, Egharevba, Mussola, Bortolotti. Coach: Fabio Moro

Yellow cards: Vermesan (VER)

Referee: Mr. Jules Roland Andeng Tona Mbei (Mrs. Veronica Martinelli - Mr. Luca Bernasso)