AS Monaco recovered from an early penalty miss to come from behind and beat fierce local rivals OGC Nice (2-1) at the Stade Louis II on Saturday.
It was almost a dream start for Monaco. Within three minutes of kick-off, Breel Embolo was clumsily brought down in the box by Baptiste Santamaria. However, Mika Biereth, so prolific since joining the Principality club in January, could not beat Marcin Bulka from the spot.
Monaco re-write the script
“There was [a sense of] déjà-vu,” said Adi Hütter, who cast his mind back to this same fixture last season when Bulka saved two penalties from Folarin Balogun before Nice went on to snatch all three points in the dying moments. And for much of the first half, there was a sense of inevitability that the improbable scenario would repeat itself.
That feeling heightened when Monaco could not convert their dominance into goals. Takumi Minamino struck the crossbar before Bulka was once again forced into action as he made a strong save from Maghnes Akliouche. When, against the run of play and making his first start for Le Gym in four months, Jérémie Boga headed past Philipp Köhn just before the break, many of the 11,564 fans packed into the Stade Louis II had read this script before.
Nice fans travel in numbers but team fail to turn up
But this time, Monaco wrote a different ending. Despite his penalty miss, Biereth persisted and he got his reward before the hour mark as he blasted past Bulka at his near post. The former Arsenal man, who made his Denmark debut during the international break, teased the travelling Nice fans with his arms wide and his tongue protruding as he savoured his 12th goal for his new club.
“I’m happy for Mika. This is his mentality, his character. He never gives up. He fights for the team,” said Hütter. “That goal was important for him. It was his 12th since his arrival and it is fantastic.”
Nice’s fans had travelled in big numbers and were boisterous throughout, with hundreds having participated in the now-traditional scooter procession along the coast in what is – geographically – the closest derby on the Ligue 1 calendar.
“We were beaten in every domain” – Haise
However, their players didn’t give them much to shout about. “We were beaten in every domain. We were logically beaten by a team that were much better than us tonight,” admitted a despondent Franck Haise post-match.
The gap between the sides became increasingly evident as the half progressed. Breel Embolo thought he had earned Monaco a penalty after going down under contact from Dante, but, sent to the VAR screen, the referee defied expectations and kept with his original decision of no foul.
However, Monaco would not be denied for too long. It was once again Embolo at the heart of the action as he latched onto a flick from Akliouche, used his strength to shield the ball and then blasted past Bulka from close range.
There was no revolt from Nice, who seemed to accept their fate. The table prior to Saturday’s encounter suggested there was nothing between these two sides, with both level on points and on goal difference. But Monaco kept pushing and Nice continually came up against a brickwall.
Monaco delay PSG’s celebrations
Folarin Balogun, on the pitch for the first time in five months after undergoing shoulder surgery towards the end of 2024, almost gave Monaco breathing room but he shot wide from a tight angle. In injury time, Akliouche looked to be bearing down on goal, but he was then brought down by Dante. The Nice captain was given his marching orders and the visitors ended the game with ten men.
A goal down and a man down, Les Aiglons could not test Köhn as Monaco saw out an important victory that, with just seven games remaining this season, could have huge ramifications for the Champions League race.
“It is an important [win]. The momentum is really good. It is a fantastic weekend for us and we are on the right path,” said Hütter post-match.
After Marseille’s defeat to Reims earlier in the day, Monaco jump up to second. The gap to PSG is unbridgeable; the reigning champions would even have wrapped up the title on Saturday had Monaco drawn with Nice. The Champagne is on ice for Les Parisiens, but the celebrations continued long into the night in Monaco, who not only assured their regional supremacy but also landed a big blow in the increasingly tight race for Europe.
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Photo credit: AS Monaco