After their unbeaten run was brought to an end by OGC Nice last week, AS Monaco lost again on Friday as SCO Angers pulled off a shock at the Stade Louis II (0-1).
Touted as Paris Saint-Germain’s main competitor for this season’s Ligue 1 title, Monaco have come crashing back down to Earth. The defeat to Nice last weekend came in peculiar circumstances, with the game turning on a couple of dubious refereeing decisions. It was a loss that saw their six-month unbeaten run come to an end; it didn’t take long for Adi Hutter’s side to register their next defeat.
Monaco fail to live up to favourites tag
Despite the end of their impressive run, which saw them sitting just three points behind table-topping PSG, Les Monégasques approached this game as the strong favourite. “We should win this game,” said Hutter on Wednesday, previewing the encounter. They should have, but they didn’t.
Angers, promoted from Ligue 2 last season, are tipped to make an immediate return to France’s second division, even despite an uptick in form, which saw them approach the game against Monaco having lost just one in their previous five, and despite having registered their first win of the campaign the previous weekend.
No possession, no problem for Angers
Alexandre Dujeux’s side had just 35% possession against the Principality club, but they used their possession to good effect. Jean-Eudes Aholou, a former Monégasque, got the only goal of the encounter, his outside-of-the-boot effort from outside the box beating the scrambling Radoslaw Majecki.
It was a rare bit of quality in what was a turgid encounter. “There was no pressing, no inspiration with the ball, runs that were too unordered, we played too slowly. We failed everything, especially in the first half. It is our worst performance of the season,” bemoaned Hutter post-match.
Monaco manager calls for humility
Lacking incision, despite all of their possession, Monaco did nonetheless have one big chance to haul themselves back into the game, and given his current run of form, you would have backed Breel Embolo to take it. However, one-on-one, Yahia Fofana pulled off a spectacular save with the tip of his boot. It is a result that sees Angers climb out of the relegation zone; Monaco remain second but the gap to PSG now stretches to six points.
“There have been a lot of questions recently about our capacity to challenge PSG. Let’s be humble,” said Hutter. There is a humility to re-discover and a level of performance too, as they travel to face Bologna in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Tik Tok.
Photo source: AS Monaco / Icon Sport