Champions League: AS Monaco clinch crucial victory over Aston Villa
AS Monaco secured their first win of 2025 by defeating Aston Villa 1-0 in the Champions League, as Wilfried Singo’s first-half strike ultimately proved the difference between the two sides under the eyes of Prince Albert II, President Dmitry Rybolovlev and Prince William.
Not far from Prince Albert II, a loyal supporter of the Red and Whites, a member of the British Royal Family was present in the stands this evening: Prince William. The eldest son of King Charles III, a fervent admirer of Aston Villa since childhood, made the trip to support his favorite team in Monaco. Sitting alongside his long-time friend Thomas van Straubenzee, the Prince made a remarkable appearance, despite an unfavourable outcome for his team.
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Prince William is in attendance in Monaco, and will be hoping Aston Villa turn things around 🤴
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 21, 2025
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/hxZyvtPWWR
The Match
Bringing Denis Zakaria, Wilfried Singo, Christian Mawissa, Breel Embolo and Vanderson into the starting line-up for this crunch clash, Adi Hutter selected a strong side to do battle with the English heavyweights.
Racing out of the blocks to take an early lead through Singo’s header, this was the perfect start for the Principality club in their pursuit of victory.
Another effort from Maghnes Akliouche then flew in, but Emiliano Martinez was on hand to deny the youngster.
Monaco subsequently settled into their mid-block with the aim of restricting Aston Villa and protecting their lead.
While Radoslaw Majecki was called into action to keep out Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins with some smart saves, Monaco vitally held firm to hold their advantage at the interval.
Knowing they’d have to fight hard in the second half, a dangerous Morgan Rogers grazed the post to put Monaco on alert before Akliouche thought he’d doubled their lead, only for his goal to be chalked off for offside.
Doing a terrific job of limiting Villa’s chances and staying disciplined while still posing a threat on the counter, which Takumi Minamino’s golden opportunity underlined, much upside could be extracted from how ASM managed proceedings to eventually clinch a masterful win at home.
The whole team was warmly congratulated by President Dmitry Rybolovlev as well as Stephane Morandi, member of the Board of Directors of the club, and the General Manager Thiago Scuro, in the dressing room after the match.
La joie dans le vestiaire monégasque après la rencontre 🎥
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) January 21, 2025
Le Président Dmitry Rybolovlev, en compagnie de Stéphane Morandi, membre du Conseil d'Administration du Club, félicite les Rouge & Blanc 👏
1⃣-0⃣ #ASMAVFC pic.twitter.com/MtDZuf9FE6
This triumph also guarantees ASM will at the very least progress to the UCL play-offs ahead of their massive final game with Inter Milan next week.
Hutter’s Debrief
“There are a few things that come to mind. Firstly, I am really happy with this win. Despite our current situation, I would like to congratulate my team for their performance and their courage because my players fought from start to finish against a great Premier League team. We now have 13 points, the play-off target has been achieved, so we are very happy with that,” explained the experienced Austrian tactician.
“We will now travel to Inter Milan next week, we will see what happens in the standings. In any case, we will go there to do our best and I hope that this victory will give us confidence again. Before that, we must not forget the league match on Saturday against Rennes, where we also want to bounce back.
“Football is sometimes difficult to explain, especially during a bad series. We were very often the best team, but we haven’t been able to win. Against Aston Villa, a team that never gives up like the last match at Arsenal, we knew we had to fight and that we were going to suffer, and that’s what we did fantastically. For a coach, it’s a big satisfaction to see that. I think we deserved to win because the defensive energy was there tonight, so you can imagine how satisfied I am.”
Key Stats
By the numbers, the fact ASM held the ascendancy in terms of expected goals (1.61 to 1.00), total shots (12 to 10), big chances created (3 to 2), shots inside the box (10 to 9) and overall duels won (54 to 47) illustrated they were good value for the win in this hard-fought contest.
Rennes On The Horizon
Up next for ASM following this sensational result is another challenging fixture against Jorge Sampaoli’s Rennes, which is set to be a feast of attacking football, where both managers will be looking to dominate and impose their offensively-geared philosophies, in what should be a thrilling encounter at the Stade Louis II.
