Ligue 1: AS Monaco’s momentum halted by Lille
AS Monaco were unable to extend their three-match winning streak away at Lille, as they suffered a disappointing 0-2 loss to halt their momentum.
The Match
Opting again to implement his 4-4-2 base structure for this fixture after the Metz victory, Adi Hutter was hoping this would prove to be the formula success once more.
Advertising
Beginning the match on the front foot, ASM raced out of the blocks by enjoying a strong first 20 minutes, which featured some notable efforts from Krepin Diatta and Wilfried Singo.
Lille then gradually got themselves into the game before taking the lead in the 32nd minute through Ivan Cavaleiro following a tidy delivery from Edon Zhegrova.
Paulo Fonseca’s men continued to push on, with them immediately coming close to doubling their advantage. Aleksandr Golovin then unleashed some promising sighters in his quest to level the ledger.
Frustrating, however, the home team struck next courtesy of Bafode Diakite to ensure they held a two-goal advantage at the interval at the lively Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Wanting to switch things up to turn the tide for the second stanza, Hutter introduced Maghnes Akliouche and Myron Boadu for Takumi Minamino and Folarin Balogun.
The signs were quickly positive for Les Monegasques, for they constructed some crafty passages that led to decent chances for Golovin, Wissam Ben Yedder and Akliouche.
Monaco then thought they’d halved the deficit when Chrislain Matsima powered home a header only for Boadu to be flagged for offside in the lead up.
Despite things not going in their favour, it was admirable how Monaco kept striving to get something from this clash, with Ismail Jakobs and Akliouche firing off teasing shots late on. But it just wasn’t to be for Hutter’s team against a Les Dogues outfit that have only tasted defeat once at home since August 2022, as ASM ultimately lost their second Ligue 1 game of the season, thus meaning they’ve now slipped to third in the standings.
Hutter’s Debrief
“I’m disappointed with the last 15 minutes before the break. I think we controlled the match in the first half by being more dangerous than Lille, even if it wasn’t spectacular. We did everything to equalise in the second half and I would like to congratulate LOSC,” explained the Austrian boss.
“If I had to pick out something negative, it would be the last 15 minutes of the first period. It’s not just the defence because we win and lose together. Edon Zhegrova gave us problems at that time. I think we lacked concentration. We are not happy about this and we are very disappointed with this result.
“It’s always important to work on our principles. It hasn’t been easy defensively since the start of the season because we had to make a lot of changes before the matches. As a coach, we like to have all our players at our disposal, it’s not easy. But once again, congratulations to Lille who played a very good match. We will work a lot this week to bounce back.”
Key Stats
By the numbers, the fact ASM held the ascendancy in terms of possession (59% to 41%), total shots (16 to 7) expected goals (0.61 to 0.54), shots inside the box (9 to 4), passes in the opposition half (183 to 105), total duels won (61 to 51) and successful dribbles (12 to 7) illustrated they were a touch unlucky to not get anything from the encounter.
Brest Up Next
After this setback, all eyes will now turn to Monaco’s intriguing clash with Brest, where they’ll be eager to recalibrate their focus and bounce back in fine style to return to winning ways within the home comforts of the Stade Louis II.