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Review

Coupe de France: AS Monaco knocked out by Reims following penalty shootout

AS Monaco’s Coupe de France adventure came to a cruel end against Reims, as they exited the competition following a dramatic penalty shootout.

The Match

Rotating his squad for this crucial clash, Adi Hutter selected a team that featured a nice blend of youth and experience, with exciting attacker Lucas Michal notably handed his first professional start.

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© AS Monaco

Kicking off the match full of energy and attacking verve, Les Monegasques twice came close to opening the scoring within the first five minutes through efforts from Breel Embolo and Eliesse Ben Seghir.

© AS Monaco

Reims’ Japanese star Junya Ito also failed to convert a very presentable chance in the early exchanges, as the match began with a bang.

Monaco then thought they’d broken the deadlock, but Takumi Minamino’s strike was ruled out for offside.

Both teams had their moments of enjoying the upper hand as the half wore on before Reims took the lead near the stroke of half-time when Cedric Kipre powered home his header with authority.

Knowing he needed to make some changes to alter the complexion of the fixture, Hutter brought on Mika Biereth and Jordan Teze for the second stanza.

© AS Monaco

Monaco quickly gained control and bossed proceedings impressively, with them now posing a far greater threat. They duly rewarded themselves for their uptick in performance, for Mohammed Salisu nodded home Biereth’s tidy delivery to level the ledger and find the back of the net for the second consecutive match.

Wanting to push for a winner, it appeared as though Minamino had won a penalty for his team, but the referee turned down the appeal. With no VAR in operation in the cup, this meant there was no possibility to reverse the decision.

The closing stages saw more drama, for both Oumar Diakite and Embolo missed terrific opportunities to win it late, thus ensuring the contest was to be decided via penalties.

© AS Monaco

Having missed their first three spot-kicks, there would be no coming back from this for ASM, leaving Reims to comfortably progress to the Round of 16.

Hutter’s Debrief

“We are obviously all very disappointed, because we wanted to qualify for the next round of this Coupe de France. I still want to congratulate Stade de Reims, even if the frustration is immense this evening. We really came to win, but it didn’t happen,” lamented the Austrian tactician.

© AS Monaco

“Some situations didn’t go our way today, because Takumi Minamino was not offside for the first goal, and he then had to get a penalty. These are not excuses, but facts, even if it’s not easy for the referee to judge without the support of VAR tonight. We weren’t lucky tonight, but we are still guilty of missing three penalties. The way we took our penalties, we certainly lacked determination to go for qualification for the next round. A shootout is never easy to negotiate. I know that from having lived through many during my playing career. But tonight it’s obvious that we didn’t do what was necessary to put them in the back of the net.”

Key Stats

By the numbers, the fact ASM held the ascendancy in terms of expected goals (2.19 to 1.18), total shots (14 to 10), shots on target (4 to 3), big chances created (4 to 2), touches in the opposition box (26 to 16) and passes in the opposition half (291 to 83) demonstrated why Hutter was so disappointed with the result.

© AS Monaco

Montpellier On The Horizon

Hutter’s men will need to rapidly recalibrate their focus ahead of Friday’s match against Montpellier and the colossal Champions League clash with Aston Villa on Tuesday, as the matches keep coming thick and fast for the Principality club.