Vito Mannone's big match against Lens
The wall! He was (almost) unbeatable against Lens this Sunday, moving on in the knockout stages of the Coupe de France (4-2 victory). A starter in the Monegasque goal in the absences of Alexander Nübel and Radoslaw Majecki, Vito Mannone showed himself to be ready for the occasion. Decisive in the fifth minute on a powerful long shot from Seko Fofana, “Il Muro” did not hesitate against one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1.
Two winning duels at the start of the match
He then did the same against Gaël Kakuta, on a ball over the top (6′). He would finally concede only at the end of the first half, after an exceptional double save, on a counterattack that turned in favor of the Lensois. It was, it must be said, a goal which should not have stood, since the first player was initially in an offside position at the very beginning of the play. Powerless to stop Arnaud Kalimuendo’s strike after returning from the locker room (2-3, 53′), he then proved to be decisive.
🎬 Grande @VitoMannone88
Quel match du portier italien face à Lens 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/ZmjQCVH2ET
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) February 1, 2022
Ten saves, including eight from distance
He first kept out a powerful shot from Kakuta with a beautiful diving save (61′), two attempts from Kalimuendo (69′, 83′), as well as a missile of a free kick from Jonathan Clauss which had been heading towards the top corner (75′), which he tipped behind for a corner. In total, Vito Mannone made ten saves in the game, out of the 12 shots on target by Franck Haise’s RC Lens, including eight from outside the box. His decisive saves kept AS Monaco afloat, and sealed the Rouge et Blanc‘s qualification.
A performance hailed by the press
The Red and White goalkeeper completed his stats with seven diving saves, two punching clearances and an intercepted cross. It was a complete and solid performance, like that of Aurélien Tchouameni, which could have earned him the title of MVP of the match, which was finally won by captain Wissam Ben Yedder, scorer of a double in Pas-de-Calais. Vito, who spoke of his satisfaction to the media after the match, did everything to earn a score of 7 in L’Équipe the next day. Bravo Vito!
