Aleksey Miranchuk scored on his Torino debut before an acrobatic Antonio Sanabria volley, as Monza were given a rude awakening to Serie A life.
It was an historic moment at the U-Power Stadium, as Monza made their all-time debut in Serie A, brought back from relegation by former Milan chiefs Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani.
Jose Machin and Eugenio Lamanna were suspended, while new signing Matteo Pessina was on the bench, but Andrea Petagna was thrown straight into the starting XI just hours after his move from Napoli. Toro missed Alessandro Buongiorno due to a ban, with Mergim Vojvoda, David Zima and Sasa Lukic injured.
Filippo Ranocchia unleashed a ferocious strike from distance that Vanja Milinkovic-Savic fingertipped onto the crossbar after 20 minutes.
The former Juventus midfielder also drilled just wide, while Nemanja Radonjic forced a save for Torino.
It was the visitors who took the lead before half-time with a well-worked team move involving one-touch passes, culminating in Aleksey Miranchuk slipping a delicate finish beneath the goalkeeper with the outside of the boot.
Torino doubled their lead in style, as the initial Samuele Ricci attempt was so wayward it turned into an assist for the acrobatic Antonio Sanabria scissor-kick volley at the far post.
Radonjic skimmed the upright and a fingertip save pushed the powerful Dany Mota strike over the bar, but Marco D’Alessandro mis-timed the header from a promising position.
Radonjic also wasted a counter-attack in the final minutes, but with practically the last kick of the game, Mota tapped in for Monza’s historic first Serie A goal.
Monza 1-2 Torino
Miranchuk 43 (T), Sanabria 66 (T), Mota 94 (M)