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·27 April 2024

Serie A | Lecce 1-1 Monza: Injury time drama

Lecce and Monza share the spoils and the hosts take another small step towards securing their Serie A safety following a dramatic two goals in stoppages.

The Salentini had surged up the standings with back-to-back victories over Empoli and Sassuolo, but the season was already over for Lameck Banda, Mohamed Kaba and Kastriot Dermaku, plus Ylber Ramadani was not fully fit either. Pontus Almqvist and Monza’s Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro returned from suspension, with Jose Machin and Dany Mota Carvalho injured.

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Warren Bondo’s curler was deflected and Kyriakopoulos drilled just wide of the near post, while at the other end Antonino Gallo’s pull-back from the by-line resulted in three attempts charged down.

After the restart, Rafia robbed Matteo Pessina to set up Nikola Krstovic for an angled drive that shaved a coat of paint off the far post.

Gallo got down the left, turned Andrea Colpani inside out twice, but could only fire straight at Michele Di Gregorio, while at the other end Colpani shinned a volley wide following good work from Bondo.

It seemed to be going towards a goalless draw until Lecce broke through at the 92nd minute. A long Wladimiro Falcone ball was nodded down by Pierotti, who let it bounce on the edge of the area for Krstovic to smash into the far top corner on the half-volley. It was Krstovic’s first goal for three months.

However, the drama was not over, as moments later Monza received a penalty when Lorenzo Venuti flailed an arm clumsily while jumping and struck the ball. Matteo Pessina kept his cool and converted the spot-kick deep into stoppages.