Six years later, AS Monaco beat Lyon to go top!

It was an unprecedented success to confirm top spot! After very little success away to Olympique Lyonnais in recent years, AS Monaco showed a lot of character and unfailing domination to win at the Groupama Stadium on the second matchday (0-2). It was three important points, which allow the Monegasques to join Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Ligue 1 McDonald’s. ✍️

The context 📅

Authors of a great start to the league season last weekend at home against Saint-Etienne (a 1-0 win), the Rouge et Blanc want to confirm this good result a few dozen kilometers from Forez, against OL. A mission that is not easy, given that the club from the Principality has not won in the Rhône since 2017, and were even on six defeats in a row.

The eleven 👥

To start this match, Adi Hütter decided to play the same eleven as he had against Les Verts at the foot of the Rock, with one exception: Maghnes Akliouche started as a number ten. As a result, Breel Embolo is aligned alone at the forefront of a 4-2-3-1 which saw the Camara-Zakaria duo in midfield.

👥 Le 𝗫𝗜 𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲́𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 🆚 @OL

‣ #OLASM pic.twitter.com/MP9QZ6d1uQ

— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) August 24, 2024

The scenario 🎞

The big match of the second matchday started with very lively play but without clear chances, despite first attempts by Zakaria (2′), Ben Seghir (3′) and Camara (11′). At the same time, good defensive interventions were needed from Ismail Jakobs to stop the Lyonnais fro opening the scoring (3′, 14′). But it was finally Eliesse who provided, for Breel Embolo the clearest chance, but it was unfortunately not converted (24′).

Domination is unrewarded

This was before the latter played the ball back to Takumi Minamino on the turn, who came up short against Lucas Perri with his shot across goal (30′). Shortly thereafter, the bronze medalist at the Games with Morocco tried his luck from afar (31′), before a good cutback by Jakobs for Vanderson, whose shot was too soft in front of the Lyon goalkeeper (35′). Half-time thus came a level score, despite plenty of domination on the part of the Rouge et Blanc.

😱🤏

32' | 0️⃣-0️⃣ #OLASM pic.twitter.com/bJotf6i3wR

— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) August 24, 2024

With sharp attacks, a goal seems imminent…

At the restart, OL tried to get their foot on the ball, but the first effort came from Embolo, on a good play by Taki’ (52′). Then it was the French silver medalist who made his mark twice (58′, 62′). Before offering a lovely ball to the Swiss striker, whose acrobatic volley went wide (63′). There was similarly no more success for Ben Seghir whose shot was deflected by Perri… before the breakthrough.

Akliouche with the inspiration, Ben Seghir with the finish!

Indeed, on a run by Maghnes Akliouche on the right, he found the midfielder trained at the Academy in the area, who took his shot perfectly (0-1, 65′)! It was a goal 100% made in La Diagonale, which echoed  one scored in Strasbourg last season. But the Monegasques’ hold on the match did not weaken and Jordan Teze was even close to scoring with a volley after coming on (72′).

🏌️‍♂️ 🫡

68' | 0️⃣-1⃣ #OLASM pic.twitter.com/PJae6zBFEL

— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) August 24, 2024

Camara doubles the lead as AS Monaco make it 6/6

Adi Hütter’s men continued to press, and it would pay off since on a good ball from Jakobs to Kassoum Ouattara, the latter played in Lamine Camara perfectly (0-2)! It was a first goal in an official match with AS Monaco for the Senegalese, who had already been decisive in Barcelona in the preseason. A third goal was even close to coming on a curling shot by Maghnes Akliouche (83′).

The scoreboard would ultimately not change further and the Rouge et Blanc won with character in Lyon, seven years later, to join PSG at the head of Ligue 1 McDonald’s (0-2). DAGHE MUNEGU! 🇲🇨

Key moments 🎥

2′: Zakaria’s shot is over hit following high pressure
3′: Ben Seghir’s low shot is caught by Perri
14′: Jakobs intervenes on a deep run by Nuamah
24′: Ben Seghir plays in Embolo who shoots off balance
30′: Embolo passes to Minamino who stumbles against Perri
35′: Jakobs crosses to Vanderson who shoots with his left foot but without success
40+4′: Abner’s shot is off target
52′: Minamino passes to Embolo who shoots over the barr
58′: Akliouche’s quickshot is deflected for a corner before Embolo’s header is over
62′: Akliouche’s attempt is blocked again
63′: Embolo has an acrobatic volley from an Akliouche cross
64′: Ben Seghir’s sudden shot is deflected by Perri
65′: Akliouche passes to Ben Seghir who finishes perfectly (0-1)
72′: A cross from Jakobs finds Teze who shoots just over
80′: A ball from Jakobs reaches Ouattara who plays in Camara perfectly (0-2)
83′: A curling effort from Akliouche is just off target
93′: Ouattara lets fly with a powerful shot that’s stopped by Perri

The stat 📊

AS Monaco have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four Ligue 1 matches, their longest run of clean sheets in the top flight since March-April 2021 (6). Moreover, the Principality club is the team with the most in 2024 in Ligue 1 (9 – Brest at 8 before their match in Lens).

📋 Match details:

Saturday August 24 – Groupama Stadium (17:00)

Ligue 1 – Matchday 2: Olympique Lyonnais 0-2 AS Monaco

Halftime: 0-0

Goals: Ben Seghir (65′) and Camara (80′) for AS Monaco

Bookings: Tolisso (91′) and Mata (96′) for Lyon; Salisu (44′) and Camara (94′ et 97′) for AS Monaco

Dismissals: Camara (97e)

Lyon: Perri – Mata, Caleta-Car, Niakhaté, Abner (Matic, 73′) – Maitland-Niles, Caqueret (Tolisso, 81′) – Nuamah (Mikautadze, 17′), Benrahma (Diawara, 81′), Fofana (Baldé, 73′) – Lacazette ©️

Substitutes: Lopes, Adryelson, Kumbedi, Diawara, Mangala, Matic, Tolisso, Baldé, Mikautadze

Manager: Pierre Sage

AS Monaco : Köhn – Vanderson (Teze, 64′), Kehrer, Salisu, Jakobs – Camara, Zakaria © (Magassa, 86′) – Akliouche, Minamino (Singo, 86′), Ben Seghir (Ouattara, 77′) – Embolo (Ilenikhena, 64′)

Substitutes: Lienard, C.Henrique, Mawissa, Ouattara, Singo, Teze, Magassa, Balogun, Ilenik

Manager: Adi Hütter