the roller coaster for Monaco, which invites itself to second place
The rollercoaster for Monaco! The ASM chained an eighth consecutive victory in the league on the lawn of Lille (2-1) and temporarily seized second place, Friday at the start of the 36th day of Ligue 1.
The Principality club can thank its midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni, and its number eight in the back, who gave it victory with a superb double on two strikes outside the area (42nd, 75th). The nice goal of Angel Gomes, which had allowed Losc to equalize, was ultimately in vain (69th).
The Monegasques did not perform well on the lawn of Lille brave and heckled by their public, but they provided the essentials by garnering a capital success in the race for the Champions League.
Philippe Clément’s players have put pressure on their direct opponents, Marseille and Rennes, who travel to Lorient on Sunday and Nantes on Wednesday respectively.
To everyone’s surprise, Monaco are indeed in second place with 65 points, the same total as OM, which they lead on goal difference (+23 against +20). The Bretons are relegated to three lengths.
ASM is well placed to finish on the podium since it will be guaranteed to be there if it wins its last two matches, against Brest and Lens, since Rennes and Marseille will face each other on the 37th day.
For Losc, who have lost four of their last five games, the descent into hell continues. The Northerners, who have only taken five points in eight matches since the last international break, are in a disappointing 10th place (51 points).
The meeting was disputed in a rather deleterious atmosphere with a strike of encouragement from the DVE, the main group of ultra supporters, who had displayed a banner “You are on vacation, we are too”.
In addition, the names of most of the players and the coach were shouted down when the team line-up was announced, and some Lille supporters punctuated the successful Monegasque passes with “Olé”.
– Chouameni untenable –
From the start of the match, the Mastiffs nevertheless tried to destabilize an uninspired Riviera team and proved with a first clear chance, which Timothy Weah wasted by shooting the goalkeeper (12th).
The Rock players struggled to be dangerous, except on a header from Tchouaméni (25th). The midfielder unlocked the game by scoring with a nice shot in the semi-circle of the area (0-1, 42nd).
On returning from the locker room, Losc pushed to equalize, like this shot from Jonathan Bamba blocked (50th), while Monaco lacked sharpness and failed to exploit the boulevards left by the Northerners.
Quite logically, Lille equalized thanks to Gomes: after a service from Bamba, the Englishman infiltrated the area, eliminated two Monegasques, before unleashing a curled shot which lodged in the opposite skylight (1- 1, 69e).
The Mastiffs pushed to snatch a victory which would have calmed down their public, at least temporarily, but Tchouaméni, author of a huge performance, punished them by restoring the advantage to his people with a superb shot from 30 meters which entered with using the post (1-2, 75th).