A turbulent week had a silver lining for AS Monaco, who, by beating reigning champions PSG (1-2) on Friday night, retain top spot in Ligue 1.
Monaco made headlines for the wrong reasons in midweek. The Principality club were involved in two high-profile sagas on transfer deadline day. Both deals would fall through, with Lamine Camara not joining Chelsea and Folarin Balogun opting against making a big-money move to Everton. It was a complex situation for Les Monégasques to contend with. Desperate to keep Camara but needing to raise funds, Balogun’s exit was prioritised. That broke down late on Tuesday night, opening the door for Camara to move to Stamford Bridge. But when Balogun’s move to Everton was reignited at the final hour, that door was firmly closed once more for Camara, despite the midfielder asking Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro to facilitate a move.
Balogun’s move to Merseyside then also fell through in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with the USMNT international opting against the switch. Scuro would later explain that Balogun felt “uncomfortable” after doubts were raised by Everton during the medical. Both remain at the club. Speaking on Wednesday, Scuro batted away the perception that Monaco were the “bad guys in the room”. In any case, it is a suboptimal scenario for all parties and particularly Monaco, still needing to raise funds and cut the wage bill.
Camara “affected” but imperious against PSG
Camara, according to Filipe Luís, was “probably affected” by the saga. The Monaco manager added, however, that there was no question of the Senegal international missing Friday night’s trip to the Capital. “He needs to play. His head needs to be where he loves, on the pitch,” said the Brazilian.
If Camara wanted to refocus on on-pitch matters, then so did the rest of the club, and there was no better way to put a turbulent week behind them than by beating the reigning French and European champions; Camara, played a big part in Friday night’s success, imperious in the middle of the park once again. Monaco have become PSG’s bogey team, and on Friday, they became the first Ligue 1 team to beat PSG in three consecutive games since the arrival of the Parisian club’s QSI owners in 2011.
Motivation was high for Les Parisiens, playing in front of their fans for the first time this season and still in search of their first win in Ligue 1. They looked on course for it. Marquinhos’ chested finish was the difference between the two sides at the break. PSG had looked the better side in the first half and deservedly led a Ligue 1 match for the first time all season.
PSG “the best team in the world” – Luís
But, unlike in yesteryear, there is a vulnerability at the back, and it was exploited. The space came down Achraf Hakimi’s wing. First it was Nazinho who popped up at the back post, just before the hour mark, to head home his first goal since joining from partner club Cercle Brugge over the summer.
And it was down the same side that Stanis Idumbo created space in the box before finishing at Matvey Safonov’s near post. The Russian should have done better with the Belgian’s effort. The Principality club were made to cling on. PSG had the ball in the net in the dying stages, only for the close-range effort to be ruled out for offside, and Ousmane Dembélé, off the bench, went close twice in stoppage time. The Ballon d’Or winner’s second effort required a spectacular fingertip save from Lukas Hradecky.
Monaco clung on (1-2) to register their fifth win in five under Luís. Olympique de Marseille were posited as the first major test last weekend. Luís passed that one with flying colours; PSG, “the best team in the world”, in Luís’ words, was a much sterner challenge, especially given the context around the game. But at the end of a week that could so easily have derailed the positive momentum that Luís and his young squad were building, Monaco sit atop the tree in Ligue 1. There was plenty of noise around Monaco this week, but on Friday, they did their talking on the pitch.
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Photo credit: AS Monaco