Sébastien Pocognoli was handed his first defeat as manager of AS Monaco by Paris FC (1-0) on Saturday evening, a result and a performance that came as a surprise to the newly-installed Belgian.
“We’ve been halted, for sure… I didn’t expect it either,” admitted Pocognoli post-match. Two wins, two draws was the Belgian’s record heading into the showdown against Paris FC. The dynamic was positive, the “mindset was good” in training, following Wednesday’s 5-3 win over Nantes; Les Parisiens’ form has been middling in recent weeks; and Monaco’s home record in 2025 is excellent, with their only defeat under the arches of the Stade Louis II coming against Benfica in early February. Pocognoli’s confidence was well-founded.
But it quickly evaporated as Monaco “ran out of steam” early on against Paris FC. A positive chance saw the home side create two good opportunities in the first 10 minutes as Aleksandr Golovin struck wide before Mohammed Salisu headed at Kevin Trapp in the Paris FC goal. “We had a clear vision of what we wanted to do, and we had intensity, too,” said Pocognoli. But that clarity became blurred, and the intensity disappeared. By half-time, it was the visitors who were in the ascendancy and who would have been disappointed not to go into the break ahead.
Pocognoli denounces a ‘lack of fire’ from Monaco
From a corner, Jean-Philippe Krasso worked a yard and rifled a shot off Philipp Kohn’s post, and just seconds later, Moustapha Mbow headed wide from an excellent position. The break did not provide the reset that Pocognoli wanted, as his changes failed to switch the momentum of the encounter. One of his substitutes, Stanis Idumbo, was instead at fault as Monaco went behind.
The young Belgian, playing in an unfamiliar wing-back role, showed his inexperience, diving in on Maxime Lopez, who easily sidestepped and drove into the box. Unpressured, he picked out Moses Simon, whose scuffed effort went over the diving Kohn. There was little to no reaction. Maghnes Akliouche went close, forcing a strong save from Trapp, but that was the only chance of note in the final 30 minutes, during which it never felt that Monaco ever truly pushed for an equaliser.
“We didn’t create a lot of chances. Beyond the result, in terms of our play, it was insufficient. It wasn’t great against Toulouse either, but we created chances at least […] I think that there was a lack of fire on the pitch,” said Pocognoli. It was quite the contrast to the midweek win over Nantes. Naturally, in this context, Monaco’s strikers struggled, especially Mika Biereth, hooked at the break.
A trip to the Arctic Circle awaits Pocognoli’s men
“It wasn’t a sanction,” ensured Pocognoli. “I think that Mika gave everything in the first half, but there wasn’t the desired impact, and there wasn’t much more in the second half either, in a collective sense.” Whilst there wasn’t really a reaction to going behind against Paris FC, Pocognoli will be expecting to see another side to his team when they travel to the Arctic Circle to face Bodo/Glimt in midweek.
“I will learn a lot about my squad in these moments of defeat and see how they react. It will be interesting to see […] I am learning about my group,” said Pocognoli, who evoked a “lack of responsibility” taken by those on the pitch on Saturday. With the first defeat, the honeymoon period is over for Pocognoli, who must quickly turn this lesson into a reaction in the Champions League. It was a night of firsts on Saturday, and certainly not in a positive sense; a first UCL win of the season next week would show that lessons are indeed being learned and that this new version of Monaco are progressing in a positive direction.
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Photo source: AS Monaco
