TOPS
“Our best game of the season. “Smiling, Florian Sotoca savored the great victory of his family at the microphone of Prime Video. Difficult to prove the Lensois striker wrong, given the recital of his team. Perfectly oiled despite the suspension of Abdul Samed in midfield, the northern 3-4-3 gave Monaco a real lesson this Saturday. Superior on all counts, the Lensois imposed their rhythm and were able to concretize their excellent start by quickly scoring two goals. A high-ranking collective performance, bringing hope in the race for second place.
In great shape in 2023, Loïs Openda continues her momentum and delivered a huge performance during this shock. The Belgian striker made the Monegasque defense suffer throughout the match, particularly the Disasi-Maripan hinge. Mobile and available, the 23-year-old was also able to be effective, scoring an express double during the first quarter of an hour of play (9th, 16th). Two goals followed in the second half by an inspired decisive pass for Thomasson on the third Lensois goal (56th).
In the wake of Openda, Deiver Machado also impressed this Saturday. Untenable in his left lane, the Colombian quickly distinguished himself. His effective pressing on Vanderson is behind the opener. Author of a perfect center for Openda on the second Lensois goal, he chained the hard-hitting climbs before giving up his place at the end of the match. Defensively, he was never caught out.
FLOPS
As too often this season, the Principality club sank by conceding a heavy defeat. Dominated from all sides in Bollaert, ASM quickly cracked behind. In front of a still unreassuring Nubel, the Monegasque defenders were constantly caught out by the pressing and the vivacity of the opponents. Like Vanderson on the opener, and Maripan on Thomasson’s goal. The Monegasque rearguard is not the only one to blame, given the poor performance of the Camara-Fofana duo in midfield and the lack of withdrawal from the wingers, in particular Diatta on the right wing.
The nightmare was total for the Monegasques this Saturday. Overwhelmed from the outset, Philippe Clément’s men were unable to react to the pace set by Lens. Totally harmless for seventy minutes, they finally waited for the end of the match and the opposing regime to drop to get clear chances. But here again, the ASM failed and was unable to close the gap. Like Ben Yedder, very upset by the turn of events and draft in front of Samba (73rd). Diop, who entered in place of a decidedly catastrophic Diatta, and Boadu also missed the target in front of the Artesian goalkeeper (75th, 84th). This rout marks the end of a good series for Monaco, which had found the net during its last twenty trips to Ligue 1.
