Monza's stay in Serie B lasted just one year of purgatory, winning the two-legged playoff final against Catanzaro to return to Serie A. The Brianza team celebrated promotion in front of their home crowd at the U-Power Stadium, despite a 2-0 defeat after goals conceded by Felipe Jack in the 40th minute and Frosinini in the 78th minute.
In the first leg, Monza won 2-0 at Cervaolo in Catanzaro but advances to Serie A thanks to their better league finish. In the regular season, the red and whites finished third; the yellow and reds, meanwhile, finished fifth in the standings, 17 points behind Monza.
The Calabrian side, coached by Alberto Aquilani, came close to a feat in Monza and left to the applause of their fans, who had flocked to the Lombardy city. The team came close to scoring a 3-0 victory several times, which would have secured a return to Serie A after 43 years. The pressure was relentless in the final 12 minutes and throughout the six long minutes of added time, desperately seeking the promotion goal.
At the end of the match, the Lombardy players showed fair play, congratulating their opponents before starting the celebrations. Coach Paolo Bianco then reached out to console Aquilani, who remained in tears on the bench.
Monza, a team that was built to immediately regain promotion to the top flight, thus joins the already promoted Venezia and Frosinone.
(Unioneonline)