Already beaten in Nice (2-1) last week, Monaco fell for the second consecutive time, in Ligue 1, this Friday at home, against poorly ranked Angers (1-0), and is starting to falter in the standings.
This evening should allow Adi Hütter’s players to return to Paris’ level at the top of the championship. This was not the case, as the Monegasques, so unproductive, were logically beaten by a united and well-organized Angevin team.
The Champions League to revive?
For Monaco, this now makes one point taken out of nine possible in three matches. Hütter has never experienced such a shortage since his arrival in the Principality last season.
The dynamic of his team was broken. And he will have to quickly remobilize his group. First to seek victory in Bologna on Tuesday, for potential qualification in the Champions League. Then to bounce back in Ligue 1 in Strasbourg just before the international break.
Like a mirror effect, Angers, which had not won a single match during the first seven days, has just consecutively beaten Saint-Étienne (4-2) and Monaco. With 10 points, Alexandre Dujeux’s players temporarily join Auxerre and Nantes, in the soft underbelly of the ranking. Above all, they now have four consecutive matches without defeat (two wins and two draws).
Without his captain Denis Zakaria as in Nice, Adi Hütter started with Aleksandr Golovin, defensive midfielder in the company of Lamine Camara, with Breel Embolo in support of George Ilenikhena.
Ghostly Monaco
The problem is that the Russian was not precise enough in his placement, nor impactful defensively. Embolo was not effective enough as a support player. Ilenikhena, with four balls touched, was ghostly during the first period, a disaster for Monaco.
Quickly, the Angevins, led by a good Himad Abdelli in the middle, believed in it. After an attempt blocked by Caio Henrique, Allevinah recovered the ball and immediately served Jean-Eudes Aholou. Alone at the entrance to the area, the latter took over from the left without control to mark a masterful strike into the top corner (0-1, 29th).
A first attempt from Maghnes Akliouche, narrowly missed (47th), tried to show the way forward for Monaco. But what followed was too mediocre. A cross shot from Camara (66th) and a recovery from Embolo (69th) were stopped by goalkeeper Yahia Fofana. Nothing more for a Monaco far from the level required to win a match in the elite.
