Friendly: AS Monaco suffer defeat at the hands of Genoa
AS Monaco suffered a 1-2 defeat against Genoa at the Performance Centre under the eyes of President Dmitry Rybolovlev and General Manager Thiago Scuro, in a clash where the impressive George Ilenikhena scored again.
The Match
Fresh off their commanding victory over Feyenoord, Adi Hutter opted again for his three-at-the-back shape and gave exciting new signing Lamime Camara a start.
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Jumping out of the blocks with gusto, ASM pressed aggressively and launched some dangerous early attacks, with Takumi Minamino, Camara and Breel Embolo firing off promising efforts.
Genoa shocked the home side by taking the lead against the run of play, however, for Junior Messias powered home a 16th minute header.
Both teams then hit the woodwork through Vitinha and Folarin Balogun in their quest to keep piling the pressure on each other.
Heading into the break down a goal, Les Monegasques rapidly went about getting back on level terms. While Balogun found the back of the net, his strike was chalked off for offside, leaving ASM to reset and go again.
Having denied Mateo Retegui’s shot, Philipp Kohn was powerless to prevent Aaron Martin doubling Genoa’s advantage courtesy of his classy shot that nestled into the top corner.
Wanting to turn the tide to get his team back into the game and give the substitutes some vital action, Hutter’s changes paid off, as Ilenikhena notably halved the deficit with a crisp finish near the death.
But with time not on their side, ASM ultimately had to settle for a loss in their fifth friendly of the summer.
Hutter’s Debrief
“We are not ready yet, but the start of the season is in two weeks. The first 15-20 minutes, we should have scored two or three goals and the game would have been completely different. We have to work on that. Tactically, we were then in more difficulty, there was too much space between the lines. I am not necessarily very satisfied after the first 20 minutes,” explained the Austrian tactician.
Barcelona Awaits
Up next for Monaco is a statement friendly against Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy, which looms as another fascinating test before their Ligue 1 season kicks off vs. AS Saint-Etienne on August 17.