Monaco wins in Lens after a crazy match and joins the quarters of the Coupe de France
The game: 4-2
Decidedly, Monaco seems to be a subscriber to crazy matches. A week after having cracked at the end of the meeting in Montpellier (2-3), the Monegasques revived by qualifying this Sunday evening for the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France after a crazy meeting in Lens (4- 2). Crazy because it started with a demonstration of Clément’s men, resulting in three goals in… eleven minutes. After great collective actions, Ben Yedder (18th), Jean Lucas (26th) and Sofiane Diop (29th) already seemed to have killed all suspense (see elsewhere). But it was without counting on this Lens.
Franck Haise’s men have never given up. Having entered their match well, like Seko Fofana in the crossbar of Vito Mannone with a heavy strike (5th), the Lensois lacked realism. If Wesley Saïd’s goal just before the break revived them (3-1, 45th), that of Kalimuendo after returning from the locker room gave more hope than ever for a comeback (3-2, 53rd). The Artésiens then threw themselves body and soul into the attack, through Frankowski (51st), Kalimuendo (72nd, 84th) or even Clauss (75th), all turned down by a spectacular Mannone. The Italian goalkeeper, holder due to the packages of Alexander Nübel and Radoslaw Majecki, delivered a very good score.
Monaco could also have taken cover earlier but Sofiane Diop, found alone at the far post after a well-felt heel from Jean Lucas, missed the target (58th) and Wissam Ben Yedder lost his face-to-face with Jean-Louis Leca (73rd). The Monegasque captain still had the final word, deceiving the Lensois goalkeeper after a fine pass from Aurélien Tchouaméni (4-2, 88th).
The fact: the eleven minutes of madness of AS Monaco
With an icy realism, Monaco only needed eleven minutes to break away. Wissam Ben Yedder opened the scoring by cutting off a good cross from Caio Henrique (1-0, 18′). Holder in Montpellier, Brazilian midfielder Jean Lucas doubled the lead, taking advantage of the spaces left by a disorderly Lensoise defense (2-0, 26th). Three minutes later, it was Sofiane Diop’s turn to shake Jean-Louis Leca’s nets after a classy collective action (3-0, 29th). Thanks to their flying start, the Monegasques will see the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, they who lost in the final against PSG last season (2-0).
5
Wissam Ben Yedder has already scored five goals in this Coupe de France. This is the highest single-season total for a Monegasque player in this competition for 20 years.