start of the crisis in Monaco, beaten on his lawn by Lens
The Monegasques, still unrecognizable from last season, bowed on their lawn against Lens this Saturday (2-0). Monaco has a third consecutive defeat in all competitions.
The page of a sparkling 2020-2021 season, punctuated in third place in Ligue 1, has definitely turned to AS Monaco. This Saturday, after their 2-0 home defeat against Lens, the Rocher club is not far from being in crisis. In numerical superiority for more than half an hour, the Monegasques have still not known the taste of victory in Ligue 1 and even chain a second setback in the league, the third in all competitions including the jump-off to Champions League.
Monaco scuttled as soon as they returned from the locker room. Ignatius Ganago took advantage of an error by Strahinja Pavlovic, in great difficulty several times during the meeting, to overtake the young Serbian defender (20) and stand alone in front of Alexander Nübel. The ex-Manuel Neuer’s lining at Bayern did not really catch up with his teammate’s blunder and, on the contrary, was guilty of a gross hand fault to let the ball slip into his goals (1-0 , 51st).
Big defensive mistakes
The Monegasques have multiplied defensive wanderings, even before the opening of the Lensoise score. From the 18th minute, goalkeeper Alexander Nübel had already received a more than haphazard back pass. His clearance, countered by Florian Sotoca, was then returned to the head of Ignatius Ganago, whose recovery miraculously shaved the right post of the former Bayern goalkeeper.
AS Monaco’s more than timid start to the season can also be explained by its offensive difficulties. Silent for 180 minutes before receiving the Sang et Or (two 1-0 defeats against Lorient in Ligue 1 and against Chakhtior in the first leg of the Champions League), the club of the Rock, so flamboyant last season, does not arrive to be dangerous in attack. And it is not the 90 minutes played at Louis-II this Saturday afternoon that will reassure Niko Kovac on this point.
A pendant 11 against 10 more than half an hour but punished against
Faced with a well-grouped Lensois, the Monegasques had a thousand difficulties to pack a very long choppy meeting, while the tactical choices detected by the coach of the ASM (tenure of Krepin Diatta and Wissam Ben Yedder, exit of the eleven of Kevin Volland) didn’t really pay off. The French world champion, who multiplies the back and forth between the starting eleven and the bench, was also replaced by the German after 63 ghostly minutes.
Everything was relaunched at the hour mark with the expulsion of Cheick Doucouré. The Lensois midfielder received a direct red card for a late tackle and more than supported on Krepin Diatta, hit in the ankle on the spot and replaced in the wake by the nugget Myron Boadu.
In front of the scoreboard and outnumbered, the Sang et Or logically abandoned the ball to their opponents for the last half hour. But the Monegasques never really knew how to take advantage of it and only proved dangerous on set pieces. In the game, on the other hand, we were close to nothing. This was not to mention the expulsion of Alexandre Golovine for an uncontrolled tackle in the 87th minute and especially the 2-0 goal scored by Simon Banza to give the Monegasque afternoon an air of ordeal.
Lens cleavage finally, the ASM will have to raise its head Wednesday against the Chakthior
Unlike ASM, Lens cleavage finally at the start of the season. Held in check against Rennes (1-1) and Saint-Etienne (2-2) during the first two days, the Sang et Or, who surprised everyone last year, garner their first victory and finally start the march before.
For Monaco, we will have to quickly re-mobilize, since the return dam of the Champions League against Chaktior arrives quickly (Wednesday at 9 p.m. on RMC Sport 1). ASM will have to succeed in raising its head, under penalty of not seeing the group stage of C1 and spoiling all the efforts of a 2020-2021 season which definitely seems far away.