AS Monaco netted three goals in the space of five minutes to blow Nantes away (3-1) and keep pace in the race for European football.

The rain fell on a hollow Stade Louis II on Friday night. Nantes’ ultras didn’t come in great numbers and those that did travel made little noise. “Too many humiliations shatter our motivation,” read a banner unfurled by their fans, a justification for their silence. The club are mired in an umpteenth relegation battle… and this time, there is a very real fear of relegation.

But not all was well for the hosts either. Performances have improved in recent weeks, especially in a defensive sense. The mood, however, remains tense. As has become customary, the ultras were absent in the first half, the stand that they occupy filled instead by a banner that called on the hierarchy to resign. The stadium rang hollow, a night reminiscent of those COVID fixures.

On such a night, it is up to the players to provide a spark… and ultimately, it would transpire, one player in particular would do just that. Anthony Lopes said that Nantes “shot themselves in the foot” in the first 35 minutes. Three goals, three individual errors, and a match all but decided by the 30-minute mark.

Adingra at the double

But it could and should have been more than just the three. Imprecision, some impressive last-ditch defending, and one spectacular Lopes save ensured that Monaco were frustrated in the opening 25 minutes. Folarin Balogun went close, Simon Adingra saw a curled effort flash just inches wide, and Wout Faes had to score from his free header, but was instead denied by Lopes, in the right place to make an improvised stop. Chidozie Awaziem and Fabien Centonze were both also well-placed to prevent the Principality club from making their overwhelming superiority count.

But once the resistance was broken, Les Canaris crumbled spectacularly. Abakar Sylla was at fault for the first, miscontrolling, allowing Balogun in behind. His shot was tame but palmed straight to Adingra, who leapt on the invitation to open his account in Monaco colours. His first was predatory, but his second was much more impressive.

Once again, it was an error in the Nantes defence that allowed the high turnover. Aleksandr Golovin fed Adingra, whose body shape was perfect to curl the ball into the far corner first time. And the third quickly followed. Another high turnover, this time from Denis Zakaria, who then finished the move himself, jinking back onto his right and putting the ball over Lopes, who went to ground too early.

“The three goals underlined one of the best starts to one of our matches this season,” reacted Sébastien Pocognoli. It was a combination of Nantes’ self-sabotage, Monaco’s coherent pressing, and some Adingra magic that proved the perfect concoction for the Principality club, and the recipe for an easy night… or so it seemed.

Golovin with a rush of blood to the head

Monaco’s defence has shown significant improvement in recent weeks, with Pocognoli’s side keeping clean sheets in each of their last three Ligue 1 games before Nantes’ visit, and whilst there were collective solutions to keep the visitors quiet, the clean sheet was squandered by an individual error. It came from Thilo Kehrer, who missed a simple ball in behind. Deiver Machado leapt onto it, cutting back to find Centonze, whose emphatic first-time finish gave Les Canaris hope on the stroke of halftime.

And Monaco continued to dangle that carrot. Abakar Sylla almost reduced the deficit to just one goal with the final touch of the half, a free header that glided just past the face of the far post, and despite their disadvantageous position, Monaco handed them a numerical advantage just after the hour mark.

It was a moment of madness from Golovin. The Russian registered two assists in the first half but blotted his copybook by receiving two yellow cards in a matter of seconds, the first for protesting a refereeing decision, the second for sarcastically applauding the first yellow. “It is the reaction of a player frustrated by some refereeing decisions. He has to keep a clear head, but I also understand the frustration,” reacted Pocognoli.

But Nantes did not have the solutions to pose Monaco problems. It was a timid display from a club whose Ligue 1 future looks increasingly uncertain, and on Friday night’s evidence, you can see why. Their feeling leaving the Stade Louis II was unequivocally one of “disappointment”, as Ahmed Kantari confirmed, but the feelings for Monaco were somewhat more mixed. For the Principality club, there are the three points, perhaps valuable in their chase for European football, but also the sentiment of what could have been. “Until the [Nantes] goal, we could have had our most complete match. What was disappointing was the concede that goal […] in general, there is a bit of regret about how the match played out,” said Pocognoli.

There is also the concern surrounding Maghnes Akliouche, substituted at half-time with a muscular injury. “Maghnes is not the type of player to ask to come off like that. It isn’t in his character,” said Pocognoli, who nonetheless allayed concerns about an injury sustained by Lamine Camara. “For him, it was about prevention,” said the Monaco manager.

Monaco aim to ‘surprise’ in UCL tie against PSG

But beyond the result, the other bright spark was undoubtedly Adingra, who put on a show on a night that desperately needed a player to light the game up. “I pushed for him to come [to the club],” said Pocognoli. Based on Friday’s showing, you can see why. “When he was on the list of players available, I immediately said that he was very interesting,” added the Belgian.

The mood going into a crunch tie against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday is therefore positive, especially in light of Les Parisiens’ defeat to Rennes earlier on Friday, which has somewhat soured the mood at the Parc des Princes, not that Pocognoli revelled in their failure.

“I saw the result before the match. I’m not necessarily happy because Rennes are ahead of us [in the league]. I think PSG are a big club and will react,” said Pocognoli, who nonetheless pointed out his side’s capacity to “surprise”. That they are, but he will just be hoping that the surprise is a pleasant one.

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Photo source: AS Monaco