The Monegasques managed to lead at the beginning of the championship, but at the last time stalled – they scored only four points in three rounds before the international break, allowing PSG and Nice to take the lead. The match in Paris became key for the team from the southern principality in the first round – defeat in it made the leader's lead too serious.
Therefore, Adolf Hütter's team came into the game extremely charged and did a great job of holding off the hosts in the opening stages of the match. PSG tried to control the ball, but had enormous difficulties escaping the pressure. The sharpness was created only through the individual actions of Ousmane Dembele, who lacked accuracy in the last pass.
French Football Championship (Ligue 1)November 24, 2023 • starts at 23:00Finished
PSGFrance5 : 2
MonacoFrance
18' • Gonçalo Ramos39' • Kylian Mbappé (P)71' • Ousmane Dembélé (Fabian Ruiz)
73' • Vitinha (Kylian Mbappé)
90' • Randal Kolo -Muani
23' • Takumi Minamino76' • Folarin Balogun (Takumi Minamino)
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The Monegasques themselves created a couple of good chances in the first minutes. Takumi Minamino fired from the penalty area after a protracted attack, but the Parisians were saved by a defender. Then Golovin's precise corner kick found a lonely Magassa in the penalty area – now it was Gianluigi Donnarumma's turn to help out the hosts. It seemed that the match was going according to the visitors' plan, but one mistake ruined everything.
Goalkeeper Philippe Quen, after a simple long-range shot, dropped the ball from his hands right onto the foot of Goncal Ramos – and PSG immediately took the lead . “Monaco” quickly recovered, and also after a goalkeeper’s error. Donnarumma fiddled with the ball for too long under pressure and eventually laid it out for Minamino to score. But something went wrong with the guests’ game and then the match went under the dictation of Luis Enrique’s team.
In the first half, the hosts had no problems either escaping pressure or creating chances. The Parisians easily combined and literally pressed the opponent into the penalty area, rolling wave after wave onto Ken's goal. Shots, serves, penetrating passes – Monaco fought back as best they could, but did not fight back. Dembele spotted Magasse's mistake and forced him to foul in the penalty area, and Killian Mbappe clearly converted the penalty.
For the second half, Monaco again came out extremely charged – but it was too late. The Parisians allowed the guests to take possession of the ball, but did not allow them to create anything near their goal. Golovin and his partners literally ran into a wall on the approaches to the penalty area, and they couldn’t break through it.
And Luis Enrique's team calmly waited for the right moment to counterattack and did not miss their chance in the middle of the half. First, the same Dembele flew like a bullet behind the defenders and hit the goalkeeper with a shot from an acute angle. And a couple of minutes later, the hosts, after successful pressing, brought out Vitinha to strike, and the Brazilian actually closed this match with a shot into the far top corner.
Monaco quickly won back one goal through the efforts of Folarin Balogan, but they could not organize a rush or create any semblance of intrigue the guests failed. They attacked a lot without creating chances. And PSG put an end to the match with a goal from Randal Kolo-Mouany in the added time of the referee.
The Parisians are leaving the lead, and the Monegasques will have to go through a difficult period. Hütter's team lacked the organization to face the top club throughout the match. And Monaco’s class is not enough to win matches against the tops and win titles alone. And the most striking proof of this is the play of Alexander Golovin.
The Russian was useful in pressing and helped the team control the game at the beginning of the match. But he failed in his attacking actions. From the very first minutes, Alexander began to make uncharacteristic mistakes in his passes, made bad decisions, lost the ball and hardly escalated the game. A couple of accurate deliveries from a corner and a long-range shot into the stands is not enough for one of the best attacking players in Ligue 1. And against the backdrop of Dembele, who tore apart the Monaco defense, and even his partner Minamino, Golovin looked extremely pale.
Both Alexander and the whole of Monaco has something to work on. The team needs to work on the organization of the game as a whole, and the Russians need to work on the stability of their actions in attack. Then not only “Metz” and “Brest” will suffer from his attacks, but also opponents at a higher level, and Hütter’s team will have a chance to retain the league championship place.
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