Ligue 1: AS Monaco celebrates 40 years of the Stade Louis II with a great victory over Rennes
AS Monaco backed up their superb victory over Aston Villa with a terrific win over Rennes to claim their first Ligue 1 triumph since early December under the eyes of Prince Albert II and President Dmitry Rybolovlev.
The Match
On a night that marked the 40th anniversary of the Stade Louis II, which was celebrated in style, manager Adi Hutter made some key changes, as he notably brought in Aleksandr Golovin, Mohammed Salisu and Mika Biereth to start.
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Immediately asserting their dominance and controlling possession, Les Monegasques stamped their mark early to give themselves a strong foothold in the match.
Takumi Minamino then fired off two efforts in quick succession after being fed incisively by Biereth, but neither were able to ripple the back of the net.
It wasn’t long until ASM surged ahead, however, as Maghnes Akliouche scored with a sublime, acrobatic overhead kick in the 15th minute. Golovin almost instantly made it two when he struck the bar.
𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒓𝒕 ✨
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) January 25, 2025
3️⃣-2️⃣ #ASMSRFC pic.twitter.com/wxu3rlFIwk
Just when Monaco appeared destined to head to the interval with the upper hand, Rennes drew level courtesy of Mahamadou Nagida, who capitalised on Radoslaw Majecki spilling Ludovic Blas’ attempt.
Racing out of the blocks determined to recover their lead to begin the second stanza, the home team just did that, as Biereth powered home to bank his first goal for Les Rouge et Blanc following yet another Lamine Camara assist.
Hutter’s men made sure to keep up the momentum, wasting little time in making it 3-1. In this sequence, much credit must go to Denis Zakaria, who regained possession crisply to allow Akliouche to drive upfield and subsequently find Golovin to finish with aplomb.
Rennes weren’t content with the current situation and showed some impressive character to half the deficit, though, when Amine Gouiri expertly beat Majecki to set up a tense final quarter of the match.
With both teams enjoying decent openings to close out the clash, Majecki’s late heroics were crucial towards ASM clinching all three points, as his stoppage-time save to deny Mohamed Meite ultimately proved the difference for the Principality club.
Hutter’s Debrief
“First of all, we can be satisfied with this second victory in a row. In our situation, it is important to show that the team is also bouncing back in the league, after the success against Aston Villa in the Champions League,” reflected the Austrian tactician.
“It was necessary, and for that I want to congratulate my team! On the other hand, we are guilty of the score being 3-2 instead of 4-1 or 5-1. And before that of going into half-time with one goal each. At 3-1, we were in some difficulty, but in the end the victory was well deserved.”
Key Stats
By the numbers, the fact ASM held the ascendancy in terms of expected goals (3.51 to 2.01), total shots (20 to 14), shots on target (10 to 5), shots inside the box (16 to 8), big chances created (7 to 2), touches inside the box (45 to 22) and overall duels won (61 to 54) underlined that they were the superior team and deserved to prevail.
Celebration
AS Monaco delivered a great performance for the anniversary of the Stade Louis II. Exactly 40 years ago, on January 25, 1985, Prince Rainier III inaugurated the stadium – a venue where AS Monaco has written many glorious pages of its history, including four French championship titles and memorable exploits in the Champions League.
The players of the Rock, with Prince Albert II and President Dmitry Rybolovlev in attendance, celebrated this anniversary in the most beautiful way by offering the supporters a vital victory. On this occasion, Mr. Rybolovlev symbolically presented Sylvie Bertrand, Director of the Louis II, with a jersey bearing the number “40”.
Inter Milan Awaits
Having now won two in a row and moved into third in Ligue 1, up next for ASM is their last UCL league phase fixture with Simone Inzaghi’s exceptional Inter Milan, where they’ll be doing everything in their power to achieve another quality result.
Jean Petit Tribute
For the players and the supporters of Monaco, while the celebration was wonderful, they didn’t forget the legendary Jean Petit, who passed away just a year ago. AS Monaco showed he is always in their thoughts by paying him a touching tribute on the pitch before the match.
Un an déjà.
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) January 25, 2025
Jeannot, on pense à toi ❤️🤍#MuneguPerTugiu pic.twitter.com/huLepMhJre