Monza 4‑0 Cagliari: Varela double delivers biggest win of the season

Gustavo Varela scored twice and set up another goal as Monza recorded their biggest win of the season, beating Cagliari 4-0 with three second-half goals. Eddy Kouadio broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, but Varela’s contribution after the interval turned a one-goal advantage into a comfortable victory.

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Dany Mota supplied the assist for Kouadio’s opener, which separated the teams at half-time. That goal extended Monza’s scoring sequence to nine consecutive matches and gave the hosts the platform for a far more productive second half.

The next breakthrough arrived just two minutes after the restart. Manga Foe Ondoa provided the assist for Varela to make it 2-0 in the 47th minute, immediately increasing the task facing a Cagliari side who had arrived with three wins from their first three away league games.

Varela then turned provider in the 66th minute, setting up Jay Robinson for Monza’s third. Having scored the second and assisted the third, he completed his double in the 79th minute to establish the final four-goal margin.

Those contributions made Varela the central figure in the decisive stretch: he was directly involved in all three goals after half-time. Monza had taken 39 minutes to find their first goal, then added three more across 32 second-half minutes.

The score was emphatic, but the underlying totals did not describe a match played exclusively in Cagliari’s half. The visitors finished with 55 per cent possession, attempted 16 shots to Monza’s 14 and won seven corners against the hosts’ two.

Monza nevertheless edged the shots-on-target count 6-5 and converted four of those six efforts into goals. That contrast explains the result more clearly than possession alone: Cagliari registered more attempts overall, while Monza made substantially more of their accurate shooting.

For the visitors, five shots on target brought no goal. Their greater share of the ball and higher corner count offered no protection once Monza began extending the lead, with the second goal arriving so soon after the interval and the third following before the final quarter of the match.

Monza started in a 3-4-2-1 formation against Cagliari’s 4-3-2-1. The most consequential difference, however, lay in the scoring contributions: four different Monza players either scored or supplied an assist before Varela added his second, with Robinson becoming their third scorer of the evening.

The result provided an immediate response to Monza’s 3-1 defeat away to Lazio. It was their second league victory in seven matches and their second home win from three games, taking their home record to two wins and one defeat.

Their last five results now read two wins, two defeats and a draw. This was the largest winning margin of their season, giving a much stronger outcome to a scoring run that had already stretched beyond their opening seven league fixtures.

Cagliari, meanwhile, suffered their first away defeat of the campaign after winning their previous three trips. Following a 1-1 home draw with Juventus, they have now taken one point from their last two league matches, having won the three games before that.

The defeat was their second in seven league fixtures overall. Their record of four wins, one draw and two losses still leaves them seventh, but the four goals conceded at Monza put their goal difference at minus one.

The head-to-head picture also gained a different result. Cagliari had won two of the three meetings between the clubs since July 2024; this was Monza’s sole victory in that sequence, achieved by a margin of four goals.

For the best moments, the official Serie A channel has published highlights of Monza’s win. Readers can revisit Kouadio’s 39th-minute opener, Varela’s goals in the 47th and 79th minutes, and Robinson’s 66th-minute finish.

Monza finish the round 14th with seven points, three clear of the relegation places, and a goal difference of minus two. Cagliari remain six points better off in seventh and six behind leaders Inter: their next task is to recover the results that brought three consecutive wins before the Juventus draw, while Monza have a second league victory to build on.

Questions

How many goals did Gustavo Varela score against Cagliari?

Varela scored twice, in the 47th and 79th minutes. He also assisted Jay Robinson’s goal in the 66th minute.

Where does the win leave Monza in Serie A?

Monza are 14th with seven points from seven matches, three points clear of the relegation places. The 4-0 result was their biggest win of the season.

Was this Cagliari’s first away defeat of the season?

Yes. Cagliari had won their first three away league matches. They now have three wins and one defeat on the road and sit seventh with 13 points.

What is a clean sheet?

A clean sheet means a team finishes a match without conceding a goal. Monza kept one in this 4-0 victory.