Ligue 1: AS Monaco’s unbeaten streak ends at Lyon
Despite taking the lead inside the first minute, AS Monaco ultimately fell to a spirited Olympique Lyonnais, who ran out 3-2 victors at home courtesy of a late winner from Malick Fofana.
The Match
Wanting to make it a perfect week after statement triumphs over Stade Brestois and LOSC Lille, Adi Hutter selected the same eleven that overcame Les Dogues, with special mention to Guillermo Maripan, who made his 150th appearance for the Principality club.
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This decision immediately paid off, for ASM raced to an early lead through Wissam Ben Yedder (following a VAR decision) inside a pumping Groupama Stadium to give them a perfect start in their quest to go nine unbeaten.
Les Monegasques thought they’d doubled their advantage shortly after when Folarin Balogun netted, only for his goal to be chalked off for offside. Youssouf Fofana then unleashed a dangerous strike towards Anthony Lopes, but he managed to deny the Frenchman.
With Monaco right on top and flexing their muscles over Lyon, the home team drew level against the run of play via classy forward Alexandre Lacazette before hitting the front courtesy of Said Benrahma to catch Monaco cold.
Clearly wanting to switch things up for the second stanza, Hutter made a triple change at the break by bringing on Kassoum Ouattara, Mohammed Salisu and Breel Embolo.
Eager for the challenge ahead, both teams made a fast opening to the half, with the likes of Lacazette and Benrahma for Lyon and Fofana for ASM firing off attempts.
Ben Yedder struck next to level the ledger just past the hour with a sharp diving header to set up a thrilling final 30 minutes.
Looking in control and with the upper hand, Monaco kept generating promising openings while Lyon continued to pose a threat on the counter.
Ben Yedder thought he’d put his side ahead, but his effort was ruled out for offside. Les Gones were the ones to land a late hammer blow to propel themselves to glory, though, with Malick Fofana finding the back of the net at the death to seal all three points.
The heartbreaking loss was ASM’s first road defeat since November, as they maintain second in the standings with three games remaining.
Hutter’s Debrief
“After a fantastic start for us, we started to have difficulty defending our goal. That’s why I decided to make three changes at half time. The starters really had a good impact on the match, even if the second half was very open,” insisted the experienced tactician.
“Congratulations to Lyon for this victory, even if we were close to 3-2 for us on Wissam Ben Yedder ‘s offside goal. On Lyon’s third goal, we can defend much better.
“It’s true that Brest won in the final moments today in Rennes. As I said, the most important thing is that we have our destiny in our hands. It’s always better to be in this situation, especially since we will host two more games, Clermont and Nantes, in addition to the trip to Montpellier.”
Key Stats
By the numbers, the fact ASM held the ascendancy in terms of shots on target (5 to 4), possession (53% to 47%) and passes in the opposition half (218 to 146), but were edged out in total shots (15 and 13) and expected goals (2.19 to 1.79), underlined what a game of fine margins it was.
Up Next
Eager to forget this unfortunate setback, expect Hutter’s Monaco to come out firing for their upcoming clash with Clermont Foot at the Stade Louis II, where a win is essential for their hopes of achieving Champions League qualification.
“We will have to get the job done. We have no excuses because we’re at home. We want to be a Champions League level team to be able to play it, so we absolutely have to win,” asserted Hutter.