Ligue 1. Monaco wins its derby against Nice
Monaco, with Ben Yedder on the bench, logically won against Nice 1-0, during the 6th day of Ligue 1, in an intense and disputed derby, and thus plunged its neighbor, now on the edge of the zone of relegation, in uncertainty.
Unable to win a home game since the start of the season (one draw and two losses), Monaco continued their unbeaten streak, taking it to eight games (six wins and two draws) since last season and now stands at 10th place with eight points.
In Nice, Philippe Clément’s men showed great skill to win in the second period with a powerful goal from Breel Embolo (68th). Place now for them, to another trip which promises to be very hot, Thursday for the first day of the Europa League at the Marakana Stadium of the Red Star in Belgrade.
If this victory validates the directions taken by the club, only captain Wissam Ben Yedder, who did not return (as in Strasbourg during the only other victory in L1 this season), did not score points.
Conversely, the Aiglons are in the hole. After its lackluster victory in Lille last week, Nice, with all its recruits, certainly offered a little more play in the first period. But the Reds and Blacks have a fourth L1 game without success at home (three losses, one draw).
From Thursday, Lucien Favre will have to react against a client: the Germans of Cologne, who will travel with 8,000 supporters to the Allianz Riviera.
Schmeichel-Viti disagreement
The enemy brothers of the Côte d’Azur repeated this derby with similar intentions: to attack the opposing team as high as possible. For this the Swiss Lucien Favre and the Belgian Philippe Clément took over in 3-4-3. Nice with its new trio Pépé-Delort-Laborde, Monaco defeated Ben Yedder on the bench, and with Golovin-Embolo-Diatta.
In this game, Monaco, led by a duo of central midfielders Camara-Fofana while dominating, was often superior in the first period. Without however managing to be decisive. Blame it on Golovin, still as active but as uninspired in front of goal (36th, 38th and 41st).
If the Aiglons often folded, they also sometimes knew how to get out with talent. Thus, from the start, Laborde took advantage of cross calls from Delort, then Pépé to serve Youcef Atal, whose good shot, before he blessed himself again (34th) was repelled in two stages by Alexander Nübel ( 12th).
Subsequently, Pépé’s volley, on a delivery from Delort, was captured by Nübel (29th), like Dante’s header (45th). If Nice were the only team to frame a shot before the break, Monaco were more precise afterwards.
After hitting the post by Golovin (52nd), then scored by Fofana (64th) without it counting, since in an offside position, the Monegasques took the lead.
Shifted by Fofana, Caio Henrique centered for the powerful Embolo. The Swiss took advantage of the disagreement between Kasper Schmeichel, who came forward without leaving completely, and Mattia Viti, to give the advantage to his team (0-1, 69th). The hardest part was done. Nice was then never able to equalize.