Double honors for Fofana, MVP against Lille and in L’Équipe's Team of the Round
He was everywhere on the pitch! This Wednesday evening, Youssouf Fofana had made a point of having a great match against Lille. More than that, he was the detonator, the launching pad, and at the same time the barrier to the northern side’s attempts to play on the counter. Scorer of the only goal of the match, which gave AS Monaco a crucial victory with a view to qualifying for the Champions League (1-0), our number 19 shone in midfield.
A high-level defensive performance 🚧
Because before releasing his partners (and the public at Stade Louis-II in the process), the French midfielder would make it possible to manage a challenging first half. Alert to counterattacks by a dangerous LOSC in these phases of play, as warned by Adi Hütter before the match, Youssouf would take on the defensive tasks. Alongside Denis Zakaria — who was just as solid, he would put together an impressive statistical line: two tackles, three interceptions, ten duels contested and eight balls recovered!
Before a vital goal! 🎯
But he would not limit himself to defending, since upon returning from the locker room, as the Rouge et Blanc regained control of the match, he would also take the initiative… and score! Already comfortable in the air in the first half (27′), he created a chance for Takumi Minamino on the volley (50′). This was just before showing himself to be decisive in the play of the match, where he took care of everything: winning the ball, getting forward, and finishing with a low strike from the left into the bottom corner (1-0, 62′)!
Il est tard mais pourquoi attendre ?
Régalez-vous avec cette frappe limpide de @YFofana19_ 😍
1⃣-0⃣ #ASMLOSC pic.twitter.com/FvEVLNFoBK
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) April 24, 2024
Covering a monumental amount of ground 🦑
It was a true masterpiece of English-style box-to-box football, for the French international’s third goal this season in Ligue 1, and one that was quite important. Because Les Dogues would never come back into the match, stifled by a Monegasque side playing for the collective on all fronts, as evidenced by the 11 kilometers covered by Youss’ during the match. It was a high-level performance, which would leave them six points ahead of their opponent on the night and well-placed for a European finish.
Les mots de @YFofana19_ après avoir offert la victoire aux siens ✊
1⃣-0⃣ #ASMLOSC pic.twitter.com/3QImuOH7bo
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) April 24, 2024
A double-double: MVP + team of the round! 🏆
Credited with a rating of 8 in the national sports daily, he therefore logically appeared this Thursday morning in L’Équipe’s team of the Round for Matchday 29. This was in addition to being rewarded by the supporters of the Club, who named him MVP of the match with 66% of the votes on the AS Monaco App. With an average of 5.66, Youssouf Fofana has moved up to 24th place in the newspaper’s ranking of outfield players. Daghe Youss’! 🇲🇨
🏆 MVP 2023-2024 Recap
Second half:
- Coupe de France – Round of 64: RC Lens 2-2 (5-6 penalties) AS Monaco: Radoslaw Majecki (1)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 18: AS Monaco 1-3 Stade de Reims: Wissam Ben Yedder (3)
- Coupe de France – Round of 32: Rodez AF 1-3 AS Monaco: Wissam Ben Yedder (4)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 19: Olympique de Marseille 2-2 AS Monaco: Wissam Ben Yedder (5)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 20: AS Monaco 1-1 Le Havre: Wissam Ben Yedder (6)
- Coupe de France – Round of 16: FC Rouen 1-1 (6 TAB 5) AS Monaco: Aleksandr Golovin (8)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 21: OGC Nice 2-3 AS Monaco: Denis Zakaria (1)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 22: AS Monaco 1-2 Toulouse: Maghnes Akliouche (2)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 23: RC Lens 2-3 AS Monaco: Takumi Minamino (4)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 24: AS Monaco 0-0 Paris Saint-Germain: Wilfried Singo (1)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 25: RC Strasbourg 0-1 AS Monaco: Eliesse Ben Seghir (1)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 26: AS Monaco 2-2 FC Lorient: Youssouf Fofana (2)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 27: FC Metz 2-5 AS Monaco: Maghnes Akliouche (3)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 28: AS Monaco 1-0 Stade Rennais: Radoslaw Majecki (2)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 30: Stade Brestois 0-2 AS Monaco: Denis Zakaria (2)
- Ligue 1 – Matchday 29: AS Monaco 1-0 Lille: Youssouf Fofana (3)
Vous reprendrez bien un peu joie de vestiaire 😍 ?
1⃣-0⃣ #ASMLOSC pic.twitter.com/driZ0nmKUk
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) April 24, 2024
👥 Players in L’Équipe’s Team of the round, 2023-2024
- (Matchday 1) Clermont Foot 2-4 AS Monaco: Vanderson and Wissam Ben Yedder (1)
- (Matchday 2) AS Monaco 3-0 RC Strasbourg: Takumi Minamino (1)
- (Matchday 3) FC Nantes 3-3 AS Monaco: Takumi Minamino (2)
- (Matchday 4) AS Monaco 3-0 RC Lens: Caio Henrique (1), Youssouf Fofana (1), Mohamed Camara (1) and Aleksandr Golovin (1)
- (Matchday 5) FC Lorient 2-2 AS Monaco: Aleksandr Golovin (2)
- (Matchday 7) AS Monaco 3-2 Marseille: Maghnes Akliouche (1), Folarin Balogun (1) and Adi Hütter (1)
- (Matchday 8) Stade de Reims 1-3 AS Monaco: Philipp Köhn (1) and Guillermo Maripán (1)
- (Matchday 9) AS Monaco 2-1 FC Metz: Maghnes Akliouche (2), Krépin Diatta (1) and Aleksandr Golovin (3)
- (Matchday 11) AS Monaco 2-0 Stade Brestois 29: Denis Zakaria (1) and Aleksandr Golovin (4)
- (Matchday 14) AS Monaco 2-0 Montpellier HSC: Wilfried Singo (1) and Takumi Minamino (3)
- (Matchday 15) Stade Rennais 1-2 AS Monaco: Vanderson (2) and Youssouf Fofana (2)
- (Matchday 17) Toulouse FC 1-2 AS Monaco: Wissam Ben Yedder (2)
- (Matchday 19) Olympique de Marseille 2-2 AS Monaco: Denis Zakaria (2) and Wissam Ben Yedder (3)
- (Matchday 23) RC Lens 2-3 AS Monaco: Wilfried Singo (2) and Takumi Minamino (4)
- (Matchday 24) AS Monaco 0-0 Paris Saint-Germain: Youssouf Fofana (3)
- (Matchday 27) FC Metz 2-5 AS Monaco: Vanderson (3) and Takumi Minamino (5)
- (Matchday 28) AS Monaco 1-0 Stade Rennais: Radoslaw Majecki (1), Maghnes Akliouche (3) and Takumi Minamino (6)
- (Matchday 30) Stade Brestois 29 0-2 AS Monaco: Adi Hütter (2) and Denis Zakaria (3)
- (Matchday 29) AS Monaco 1-0 Lille: Youssouf Fofana (4)