Como and Monza Share the Points in First-Ever Serie A Derby

Monza was never meant to be a club struggling to keep its nose above the drop zone, not after two successful years of walking the Serie A tightrope.

But despite their progression up the food chain, the Brianzoli are finally experiencing growing pains, winning just once in the opening 14 rounds of the season.

The Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia in Como is located to the north of Lissone’s Serie A International Broadcasting Centre, a forty-five minute drive on the Statale. It’s here by the iconic lake where home town club Como and Monza would finally meet in the historic first-ever Serie A match between the two Lombardian neighbours.

Since the pair last met in Serie B in 2022, plenty of names have arrived to give the pair an overhaul and a fresh look, including the likes of Daniel Maldini, Francesco Caprari, Nico Paz, Gabriel Strefezza and Dany Mota.

The meeting between the pair represented the proverbial six-pointer, with both struggling for wins a third of the way through the campaign. Como and Monza only have three wins between them yet, incidentally, two of the three came against Verona, and this could be significant come the end of the season, with head-to-head the main tiebreaker in Italy.

This was a must-win game for both Cesc Fabregas and Alessandro Nesta and, on a chilly day by the lake, the Sinigaglia was a nearly sold out, the Comaschi bracing the rigid conditions in support of their side.

Yannick Engelhardt has been in and out of the Como side this season, but did his chances of staying in Cesc Fabregas’ side no harm with a solid display in the middle of the park.

The German midfielder, who signed from Bundesliga side Dusseldorf last summer, found life difficult in the early months of the campaign. After making his full debut in the 3-0 away defeat to Juventus, the 23-year-old didn’t start again for the Lariani until the match against Empoli at the beginning of November.

Since then, the 23-year-old has started the last four games in the middle of the park, and he scored his first goal for the club in the 1-1 draw with Monza. 

Reacting quickest inside the penalty box, Engelhardt got his head to the loose ball and did remarkably well to place it into the opposite corner of the Stefano Turati’s goal following Monza’s failure to clear a corner.

It was only Engelhardt’s 12th senior goal of his career, but it’ll have meant a lot to a player still finding his way in Serie A. 

Neither side had prominence over the other, with the ball zinging from side to side in an at-times frantic game.

After the break, Monza were awarded a penalty by referee Juan Sacchi after Nico Paz handled inside the box. Caprari stepped up and made no mistake, sending veteran stopper Pepe Reina the wrong side.

Caprari had been one of Monza’s best attacking players on the day, ghosting in between the lines, trying to knit together an attack that’s scored a mere 12 goals all season. 

Many inside the Sinigaglia thought Andrea Belotti had won it right at the death, when his header agonisingly sailed inches wide of the post after substitute Simone Verdi sent in a sumptuous cross.

Yet it wasn’t to be, and a point each was arguably a fair reflection on the game. It will give Fabregas’ some measure of confidence going into the mammoth game next weekend in Venezia. While for Monza, the lead up to Christmas contains two must-win games against Lecce and Parma. 

“We didn’t have many options on the bench today, as we are struggling a little at the moment with injuries,” Fabregas told DAZN in his post-game press conference.

The battle at the bottom of the table is fierce, but both Como and Monza have proven they have enough about them to escape should they make sensible decision in January. 

In addition to needing extra firepower, Como simply need more players in the squad, as highlighted by Fabregas’ comment post-game. Monza, meanwhile, need a creative spark amid injuries to Stefano Sensi and Matteo Pessina.

Rectify those issues and both could be facing one another in Italy’s top division next season once more. 

We sat down with Christian Vieri, world-famous Lombardy resident: