Monza dismantled Cagliari 4-0 at the U-Power Stadium on Monday, and the scoreline was not flattery — Ivan Jurić's side scored in the first half, immediately after the restart, and twice more in the final quarter-hour to reduce one of Serie A's more credible early-season stories to rubble.
The opener arrived at 39', Monza defender Eddy Kouadio converting with Dany Mota providing the assist. It was the kind of goal that changes the psychological texture of a match: Cagliari had conceded only two goals across their previous four Serie A fixtures, and here was the first arriving before the interval, against a Monza side that had won just one of their previous three Serie A matches coming in. The lead held into the break, and then Monza made it two almost immediately after the restart.
At 47', Monza forward Gustavo Varela finished from a Manga Foe Ondoa assist to make it 2-0, and Cagliari's composure — so evident in wins against Atalanta and Udinese in September — began to fracture visibly. Fabio Pisacane's side responded with a substitution at 53', sending Alieu Fadera on for M'Bala Nzola, but the shape of the match had already been set. Jay Robinson, Monza midfielder, made it 3-0 at 66' with Varela turning provider, and the double substitution Cagliari made a minute later — Kevin Carlos for Daniel Maldini, Yukinari Sugawara for Zé Pedro — came with the score already at three.
Varela was the axis around which Monza's afternoon rotated. The forward scored at 47', assisted the third at 66', then completed his brace at 79' to make it four — a performance that covered both phases of the attack and gave Monza a margin that felt earned rather than fortunate. He was withdrawn at 81', the job comprehensively done, with Patrick Cutrone coming on to see out the closing minutes.
Cagliari's difficulty was structural as much as individual. Pisacane's team had built their early-season record — four wins and a draw from their first six Serie A matches — on defensive solidity, conceding only three goals before this fixture. That foundation collapsed entirely here, and the manner of the collapse matters: two goals before and immediately after half-time left Cagliari chasing the match from a position that their squad, without a recognised striker making an impact after Nzola's removal, was not equipped to reverse. Harry Winks picked up a yellow card at 76' and was substituted five minutes later; Alieu Fadera, who had come on to provide attacking impetus, was booked at 82'. Neither detail suggests a team that found a way back into the contest.
The form context sharpens the significance. Monza had collected just three points from their previous three matches across all competitions coming in; this result moves them to six points from that same window. Cagliari, who had taken seven points from their last three matches before today, now sit at four points from their last three — the defeat landing hard enough to reshape what had been a quietly impressive early-season trajectory. For Monza, the four-goal margin represents their most emphatic performance of the campaign and a signal that Jurić's methods, when the pieces connect, can produce something considerably more than the side's recent form suggested.
A 4-0 result against the division's most efficient defence through six rounds is the kind of afternoon that gets remembered when seasons are eventually assessed.