Serie A | Monza 0-0 Lecce: Nesta avoids defeat on comeback | OneFootball

Alessandro Nesta returned to the Monza bench and picked up a point in this relegation dogfight against Lecce, though the visitors had the best chances.

The hosts brought Nesta back less than two months after he was sacked to make way for Salvatore Bocchetti, who oversaw one win and six defeats including a 5-1 to Lazio. The absentee list included Danilo D’Ambrosio, Samuele Birindelli, Luca Caldirola, Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro, Roberto Gagliardini and Matteo Pessina. Lecce missed Nicola Sansone and Filip Marchwinski, while Medon Berisha had flu symptoms.

See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.

It was almost the perfect start for the visitors, as in the second minute a long-range Thorir Helgason free kick dipped viciously to bounce off the top of the crossbar.

Stefano Turati returned in goal and flew to palm away the Nikola Krstovic volley off the inside of the boot, while Pedro Pereira snatched at a volley to fire over for Monza.

epa11900908 US Lecce’s forward Tete Morente in action AC Monza’s defender Pedro Pereira during the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Monza and Lecce at U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy, 16 February 2025. EPA-EFE/ROBERTO BREGANI

Wladimiro Falcone palmed a Gianluca Caprari strike out from under the bar with his trailing hand, while Turati’s gloves were stung by Helgason’s sudden snapshot.

Keita Balde Diao arrived as a free agent this week and made his Monza debut in the final 12 minutes, but Krstovic saw his counter-attack deflected wide and Turati got down well to save the Santiago Pierotti daisy-cutter at the near bottom corner.