Serie A | Monza 1-4 Napoli: Hojlund breaks drought, but Lobotka scare

Serie A | Monza 1-4 Napoli: Hojlund breaks drought, but Lobotka scare Napoli ended the positive Monza run of home results with a 4-1 victory and Rasmus Hojlund broke his goal drought, but Stanislav Lobotka was stretchered off with a potentially serious injury. The Partenopei were feeling the heat after a shock defeat to Venezia and fiery 3-3 draw with Napoli, which saw Max Allegri sent off for dissent, picking up a two-game touchline ban . Assistant Marco Landucci was therefore on the bench, missing injured Benoit Badiashile, Leonardo Spinazzola, David Neres, Alisson Santos, Costantino Favasuli and Alessandro Buongiorno. Amir Rrahmani returned after missing the Roma thriller with flu symptoms, but otherwise there was no squad rotation. Monza made the most of home advantage this term , winning their last two fixtures here against Sassuolo and Cagliari. Jan Ziolkowski, Matteo Pessina, Yvan Maye and Michael Folorunsho were injured, but Gustavo Varela was on stunning form with nine goals in eight competitive games this season. Exequiel Zeballos nearly joined Napoli this summer from Boca Juniors, but instead was on the Monza bench. See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog. ITALY – OCTOBER 28: Rasmus Hojlund of SSC Napoli scores his first goal during the Serie A match between AC Monza and SSC Napoli at U-Power Stadium on October 28, 2026 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images) It took just 63 seconds for the first shot on target, as Samuele Birindelli surged forward and stung the gloves of Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. However, Napoli opened the scoring with Hojlund ending his eight-match goal drought in all competition. Giovanni Di Lorenzo pounced on the ball after a tackle in midfield and immediately placed the through ball to release Hojlund. There was bad news for the Partenopei, as Ricardo Mangas fell onto Stanislav Lobotka and turned the midfielder’s ankle in a very unfortunate way. Lobotka had to be stretchered off in agony, replaced by Billy Gilmour and taken to the local hospital for X-Rays. ITALY – OCTOBER 28: Stanoslav Lobotka of SSC Napoli leaves the pitch on a stretcher during the Serie A match between AC Monza and SSC Napoli at U-Power Stadium on October 28, 2026 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images) Matteo Politano failed to make the most of a Birindelli error, as he was blocked off by Lucchesi, then at the other end Foe Ondoa’s scorcher flashed just wide. Hojlund and Matias Olivera couldn’t get the Politano cross on target, but Milinkovic-Savic twice had to be on his toes with Gustavo Varela ready to pounce. Milinkovic-Savic also flew to fingertip a Varela curler past the far post after Di Lorenzo gave it away, but Monza did equalise before half-time when Jay Robinson stood up a cross from the left for the Varela glancing header from five yards. ITALY – OCTOBER 28: Gustavo Varela #9 of AC Monza celebrates after scoring his first goal during the Serie A match between AC Monza and SSC Napoli at U-Power Stadium on October 28, 2026 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images) Straight after the restart, Varela curled not far over the bar, but Napoli restored their advantage moments later. The Mangas pass out of defence was intercepted by Politano, who cut inside to bend the finish through the legs of Lucchesi into the far bottom corner. ITALY – OCTOBER 28: Matteo Politano of SSC Napoli celebrates after scoring team’s second goal during the Serie A match between AC Monza and SSC Napoli at U-Power Stadium on October 28, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images) Milinkovic-Savic had to get down remarkably quickly for the great one-handed reaction save at the near post on a Foe Ondoa daisy-cutter from the edge of the area. Noel Tornqvist also made a great save, rushing off his line and using his body to deny Hojlund, who had turned his marker brilliantly on the Noa Lang assist. However, Napoli scored on the resulting Politano corner with a Rafa Marin header, confirming Monza’s poor record on defending from set plays. There was a fourth soon after, as Lang’s intelligent disguised slide-rule pass sent substitute Kevin De Bruyne running down the left to beat the on-rushing goalkeeper one-on-one. Scott McTominay drilled wide from distance and then stung Tornqvist’s gloves, while Zeballos tested Milinkovic-Savic at the near post. Monza 1-4 Napoli Hojlund 10 (N), Varela 43 (M), Politano 48 (N), Rafa Marin 62 (N), De Bruyne 67 (N)