AS Monaco’s winless run in Ligue 1 continued in Le Mans on Sunday (1-1), with Erwan Colas’ late equaliser denying the Principality club their first league win since September. 

As we have become accustomed to, we saw both versions of this Monaco team this week. In Europe, Filipe Luís’ side continue to obtain results. Three wins in three games in the Conference League leave Les Monégasques in a “comfortable” position, according to Luís. That is in contrast to their standing in Ligue 1, increasingly uncomfortable and a source of growing frustration.

At the start of this winless run, which now stretches to five matches and all the way back to 18th September, Monaco were top of the table. At best, they will head into this international break in sixth.

Scoring goals is a burgeoning problem. Paris Brunner’s electric start-of-season form has tailed off, with dramatic consequences for the Principality club. Matthis Abline failed to step up in Le Mans, putting in an anonymous performance. Folarin Balogun, his replacement in the second half, didn’t do much better, whilst Brunner, also a substitute at the start of the encounter, struggled.

Balogun, Brunner, Minamino fail to provide attacking momentum

Monaco were gifted the lead, however. Harold Voyer’s pass back to Nicolas Kocik was overhit. The goalkeeper, who moments prior had gone down with a muscular injury, couldn’t control it and allowed Mamadou Coulibaly to steal in. Having won the duel and with the ball rolling towards the goal, he didn’t even need to apply a finish.

It was a similar story thereafter. You didn’t even need to hear Luís’ post-match comments to know what he was going to say. “In the second half, we pushed less,” said captain Denis Zakaria. That has been an Achilles’ heel for several weeks now. Backing up a solid first half, controlling the game and remaining positive in their intentions is a real issue.

Monaco, despite the likes of Folarin Balogun, Paris Brunner, and Takumi Minamino all coming on, lacked bite and struggled to regenerate attacking momentum that ebbed away over the course of a second half that Le Mans grew into. Les Sang et Or didn’t create much themselves, but when you don’t put your opponent away, you put yourself at risk.

‘We weren’t good enough’ – Zakaria

It only takes a stroke of luck, or in this case one loose ball in a chaotic penalty area, to fall to Erwan Colas in the last minute of regulation time. He finished emphatically into the roof of the net. Two more points go begging for Les Monégasques, who miss a big opportunity to jump back into the Champions League places.

“We weren’t good enough,” said Zakaria. “It was a deserved point for Le Mans. In a season, there are highs and lows. We have to lift our heads.” The first five games were a dizzying high at the summit of the table. This is a low.

Now time for rumination for Monaco, who will mull over what has gone wrong in recent weeks over this international break that will undoubtedly feel longer than it would have had they held out in Le Mans. Luís said that the break was needed to “cleanse the minds”. The Brazilian will certainly be busy over the next fortnight. There is clearly a lot to work on.

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Photo source: AS Monaco