Marco D’Alessandro breaks Cittadella hearts in the dying minutes

Cittadella fall in Monza after Marco D’Alessandro’s 90th minute winner.

Despite having the match in their grasps, Cittadella are left empty-handed and stunned after a late winner from Monza. D’Alessandro penetrated the space left in behind on the counter attack, and netted all three points for the Biancorossi.

This was a match that felt like the same story for many Granata supporters: they dominated, they had possession, they created many chance. Yet, the scoreboard remained at zero.

Cittadella head coach Edoardo Gorini was back on the pitch side after his one game suspension. So, he made one switch from last weekend’s goals draw with SPAL. Forward Mamadou Tounkara filled in for an overworked Enrico Baldini in the attack.

Gorini, annoyed after the match with conceding so late, stated improvement is needed on the little details.

“I think Monza was good at defending our attack, [they] only hit the post.” Gorini said post match to Sky Sport. “We played a great match, but the details in Serie B make the difference and we’ll have to work on this.”

Straight away, Cittadella got on the front foot. Inside the opening ten minutes, Citta tested Michele Di Gregorio’s goal.

Midfielder Simone Branca smacked the post on a free kick from twenty yard out. Immediately, Mirko Antonucci couldn’t re-direct his shot past Di Gregorio.

It was evident that Cittadella were the better side in the first half. Groans from Monza supporters early on made it clear that the match was Cittadella’s to lose.

Even though the first half ended 0-0, the entire team knew they had the capability to win this game. The defensive backline, which consisted of Cassandro, Adorni, Perticone, and Benedetti, were solid denying Monza’s attack.

As the second half started, the match hit a dry point where both teams couldn’t muster anything going forward. Gorini made two substitutions after the hour mark and brought in Enrico Baldini and Giacomo Beretta. Opportunities started to come, but neither team could create a massive chance to score the go-ahead goal.

Monza showed they could steal the win, and gave some nerves to Gorini’s men. Forward Mattia Valoti worked his way into the penalty box. His shot slammed off the post with five minutes to go.

It’s one of those matches were dominating the entire match leaves vulnerability going the other way, and that’s probably the worst way to lose. For Cittadella, it happened in that cruel way.

The referee put up four minutes of stoppage time for the second half. Cittadella had a corner kick coming. The entire team made a decision to go for the win. To make things safe, Andrea Danzi sat as the only player at midfield.

The corner kick reached the feet of Monza midfielder José Machín. Machín saw the open space left in-behind. Marco D’Alessandro ran onto the ball with half the field to run, and only Andrea Danzi and Tommaso Cassandro trailing back. D’Alessandro went all the way, slotting it past Elhan Kastrati for the game winner.

Monza supporters sitting on the opposite curve celebrated. D’Alessandro’s shirt came ripping off at the expense of the Granata. Without a doubt, a heartbreaking way to end the match as Cittadella dominated for the entirety of the 90 minutes.

“It hurts to lose like this, taking a counterattack in the 92nd minute.” Gorini continued after the match. “Fortunately, there’s another match on Thursday and we’ll have to be good at transforming anger into positive energy against Parma.”

Cittadella are up against another big team next Thursday. Legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon makes a visit to the Tombolato on Thursday night, where the Granata look to bounce back against Parma.

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