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Onefootball 4mos ago
An unsinkable AS Monaco beat Lille to tighthen their grip on second!
Source:Onefootball

Long threatened by a dangerous LOSC on the break, the Rouge et Blanc made the difference after halftime, finally obtaining a fourth win in a row (1-0) to move six points ahead of the Northerners in the table.

A victory to go second! Patient before making the difference in the second half, the Rouge et Blanc won against Lille at the Stade Louis-II (1-0), under the eyes of H.S.H. Prince Albert II and President Dmitry Rybolovlev, on the occasion of the club's 2400th match in the top flight. Match report

Videos OneFootball The President of AS Monaco Dmitry Rybolovlev, Stephane Morandi, member of the Board of Directors of AS Monaco, and H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco

The context

For this second big match in what is a decisive week for the Rouge et Blanc, after an important win in Brest (0-2), it was LOSC which landed at the Stade Louis-II. It's a ground which has offered very little success for Les Dogues recently (11 games without a win), even if the Northern side is in great form, and remained just three points behind the Monegasques in the standings.

I was impressed by this LOSC team which showed very good things against Aston Villa in the Conference League. They have a great coach, who is very experienced, in Paulo Fonseca, whom I have already had the opportunity to face in the past. I think they can say the same for us, so it will be a very interesting match.

The eleven

In the absence of the suspended Wilfried Singo, coach Adi Hutter opted to set his side up in a 4-4-2. Thilo Kehrer returned to central defence, while Krepin Diatta started on the left in a four-man defense. On the bench on Sunday, Wissam Ben Yedder started up front alongside Folarin Balogun.

The scenario

This big match started with a first chance for Lille on a solo run by Gudmundsson, whose attempt was captured by Radoslaw Majecki (3). The Monegasque goalkeeper was again vigilant on a deflected cross by the Iceland internationalHaraldsson, which he was forced to punch clear (15). AS Monaco first responded with a powerful strike from Takumi Minamino which flirted with the bar (20), then it was Denis Zakaria who tried his effort from range (22).

Plenty of chances, but no goals

The target was missed again, as on a header by Youssouf Fofana at a corner (27). Before that, Folarin Balogun had tried to pick out his captain with a ball in behind, but without success (23). Control of the game and the chances were now coming for our Rouge et Blanc, who were nevertheless struggling to find the breakthrough. And LOSC took the opportunity to attack on the counter, like on a run by Haraldsson, who eventually missed the target (42).

The goalkeepers (and the post) take over

The halftime break thus came with the match still scoreless. But upon the start of the second half, the Northern side showed themselves to be dangerous again with a header from Gudmundsson which hit the post (47), then a curling effort by Angel Gomes (48). The target was also getting closer for Adi Hutter's men, notably on a volley by Maghnes Akliouche cleared off his line by Lucas Chevalier (55).