In a pulsating clash at the Stade de la Mosson, AS Monaco eventually held on to win 3-2 after a bullish second half comeback from the hosts.
Racing to a 3-0 lead by the 61st minute courtesy of a much needed brace by Wissam Ben Yedder and one from Kevin Volland, Niko Kovac’s men appeared destined for a comfortable victory. But this was from the case, however, as two goals from Montpellier in the space of five minutes from Elye Wahi (64) and Andy Delort (69) immediately got them back into the game.
Despite Michel Der Zakarian’s side’s best efforts, Monaco defended diligently as a collective to see out the remainder of the match to obtain a crucial three points away from home.
Dominating for large spells and producing some quality attacking passages, Monaco did enough to deserve the win on the balance of play. The numbers illustrate this too, where they outshone Montpellier in terms of Expected Goals (1.97 to 1.19), shots (16 to 9), tackles won (24 to 12) and turnovers (3 to 16).
Monaco impressively now move up to 36 points, just four points of leaders Lyon, as their excellent form continues, which has seen them win four of the last five matches. Up next for Les Monegasques is a colossal clash with Marseille at home, which represents a massive opportunity for them to stake their Champions League qualification claims.
In hot form and with Ben Yedder back firing alongside the masterful Volland, Monaco will be confident of keeping their exceptional run going.