Ligue 1: Short-handed AS Monaco draw with Lille
Despite playing the final third of the match with 10 men following Jordan Teze’s red card, AS Monaco admirably managed to secure a 0-0 draw against an excellent LOSC Lille outfit under the watchful eyes of President Dmitry Rybolovlev.
The Match
With some key players missing such as Folarin Balogun and Mohammed Salisu, Adi Hutter shuffled his pack from the recent Stade Rennais win, as the likes of George Ilenikhena, Teze, Caio Henrique and Aleksandr Golovin started this one.
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ASM came out swinging by pressing intensely and forcing many turnovers to immediately put Lille on the back foot in the opening exchanges. Indeed, the early chances that fell to Golovin and Eliesse Ben Seghir owed plenty to their assertive harrying.
Doing a fine job of controlling the match, preventing Lille from creating quality chances and posing a danger going forward themselves, ASM admirably flexed their muscles in the first half even though they couldn’t find the back of the net.
The second stanza began following a similar pattern to the first, with Monaco dominating and looking most likely to break the deadlock.
While Ben Seghir and Takumi Minamino fired off decent attempts, it wasn’t to be. The match then took a turn, as Teze was sent off after receiving a second yellow in the 61st minute.
Despite this setback, Les Monegasques remained calm and composed, managing to keep enjoying polished spells of possession and carving out some presentable chances. The best of which fell to Krepin Diatta and Denis Zakaria, who both narrowly missed giving their team the lead.
Ultimately, the match ended 0-0, on a night where ASM held firm impressively to keep another clean sheet and were the better team, plus maintained their unbeaten streak and extended their advantage at the top of the Ligue 1 standings.
Hutter’s Debrief
“Looking at the whole game, I think we lost two points tonight. I saw a really good performance from my team, who were the best tonight. I’m happy with that and I think we deserved to win. With Jordan Teze’s sending off, we played half an hour with a man down against Lille, which is not easy, so it could have been worse. So, in the end, it’s a good point taken and we remain undefeated,” reflected the Austrian tactician.
“We missed the opportunity to win and continue our run. But it’s never easy after the international break, when many players are absent. It’s the same situation for LOSC. We only had one or two training sessions to prepare for the match together and only a few minutes this morning to talk tactics.
“Then I didn’t see much difference with Lille when we were down to ten, we were even more dangerous, which makes me really happy. We need to be better finishers in the box, even if, once again, LOSC is a good team.”
Key Stats
By the numbers, the fact ASM held the ascendancy in terms of expected goals (0.75 to 0.58), total shots (14 to 3), shots inside the box (6 to 2), touches in the opposition box (26 to 15), possession (58% to 42%), passes in the opposition half (214 to 128) and overall duels won (72 to 54) illustrated what an outstanding display Les Rouge et Blanc produced.
More Colossal Clashes Await
The massive matches keep on coming for ASM, for up next they face Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League before taking on OGC Nice in the derby next weekend, in what looms as a fascinating upcoming seven days for the Principality club.
Pink October Initiative
Once again, AS Monaco affirmed its support for the Pink October campaign, dedicated to breast cancer awareness and screening. As part of its “AS Monacoeur” initiative, the club set up several actions in favour of this cause. For this Ligue 1 match, a special program was implemented to raise public awareness and funds for research.
The players wore collector’s jerseys adorned with the ribbon of the Pink Ribbon Monaco association, which has been working since 2011 to promote early detection. Volunteers and friends of the association were notably present at the stadium. At the end of the match, one of the jerseys was signed by the players, framed and auctioned on the BiddingSport platform, with all the profits donated to Pink Ribbon Monaco.
The Stade Louis II was decked out in pink, with all the members of AS Monaco, including directors, staff and stewards, displaying pink pins and ribbons. LED panels dedicated to the cause also illuminated the stadium throughout the match, creating a festive and committed atmosphere for this noble cause.
