Rasmus Hojlund ended his long goal drought as Napoli thrashed Monza 4-1 at the U-Power Stadium on Wednesday night, with Matteo Politano starring and Kevin De Bruyne scoring off the bench to ease the pressure on the suspended Massimiliano Allegri.
Napoli needed just 10 minutes to break the deadlock. Giovanni Di Lorenzo played Hojlund in behind the Monza defence and the Dane finished with a sliding effort at the near post — his first goal since September 5, ending an eight-match drought in all competitions for a striker who had been heavily criticised in recent weeks.
Monza refused to fold. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had to bail out his captain Di Lorenzo after the full-back was dispossessed by Gustavo Varela, and the hosts levelled two minutes before the break when Varela glanced a header into the far corner from Jay Robinson's cross.
Politano turns the game after the break
Napoli's response was ruthless. Three minutes after the restart Politano pounced on a heavy touch from Ricardo Mangas and curled his finish into the bottom-left corner to restore the lead.
Milinkovic-Savic kept that lead intact with a low save to his right from Manga Foe Ondoa's volley, and Napoli made the reprieve count. On 62 minutes Rafa Marin flicked in Politano's corner — another set-piece goal conceded by a Monza side with a poor record defending them — and five minutes later substitute De Bruyne ran onto Noa Lang's disguised throughball and finished through the legs of goalkeeper Noel Tornqvist to make it 4-1, as reported by Football Italia.
Scott McTominay went close to a fifth, flashing one effort past the post and stinging Tornqvist's gloves, but the damage was already done.
Four different players scored for Napoli on the night, and goals arrived from the penalty-box striker, the wide forward, a centre-back at a set piece and a substitute — the spread of threats that has been missing during their recent wobble.
So what it means
The win matters beyond the scoreline. Allegri watched from the stands, serving the first match of a two-game ban, with the pressure growing after Napoli squandered the lead twice against Roma on the back of a defeat to Venezia. This was the emphatic answer he needed.
The result lifts Napoli above Juventus — beaten at Genoa on the same night — and into sixth place, level on points with the Turin club but ahead on goal difference, on a dramatic Serie A evening that also saw Bologna win at Milan, as the wider European roundup on Sportsnet recorded.
The one shadow is Stanislav Lobotka. The midfielder was forced off after just 17 minutes and sent for X-rays, and Napoli will anxiously await the results before Sunday's trip to face Juventus in Turin — a match that now carries extra weight after Wednesday's swing in the table.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is what a squad with real depth is supposed to do to a struggling side. Hojlund scoring again, Politano running the game and De Bruyne adding class off the bench — if the Dane's drought really is over, Napoli's season looks very different. Was this the night Napoli's attack finally clicked into gear?
