LILLE 1-2 MONACO- MONACO PROVE TOO MUCH TO HANDLE AS THEY BEAT LOWLY LILLE.
AS Monaco beat LOSC Lille 2-1 in Ligue 1, boosting their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, while also ending their three-game winless run in H2Hs.
Lille’s players have been accused of already being on holiday by some fans, but they were doing most of the flying forward early on. Either side of Timothy Weah’s shot being saved by Alexander Nübel, Gabriel Gudmundsson was unable to truly test the goalkeeper after breaking into the box well. Despite this, the visitors had the game’s best chance so far shortly before the half-hour mark, though Aurélien Tchouaméni couldn’t find the target with his header and the ball bounced agonisingly over Kevin Volland as the striker stretched to turn it goalward.
Tchouaméni was far more clinical minutes before HT. After Vanderson had tenaciously won the ball from Tiago Djaló, Wissam Ben Yedder found the midfielder on the edge of the box, where he worked a yard of space from Benjamin André and struck past Léo Jardim. The ‘Monégasques’ came out of the break with more intent and Benoît Badiashile’s deflected header had to be punched away within minutes. Jonathan Bamba had a chance after Amadou Onana’s burst into the box, though he displayed why he only has one league goal this season by providing a weak effort that was turned behind.
Shortly after his introduction, Angel Gomes hit a speculative shot that trickled harmlessly wide. He did far better moments later, though, jinking into the box and curling his shot out of Nübel’s reach to equalise. Six minutes later, Tchouaméni restored the visitors’ lead with a simply outrageous strike that fizzed off the post and past Jardim – having scored one Ligue 1 goal all season, he had two in one night after returning from suspension.
‘Les Dogues’ tried to cause problems, but Monaco saw out the win to go second for the time being, with Olympique de Marseille and Stade Rennais both having a game in hand. This also sees the ‘Monégasques’ record a league-best eight consecutive victories for the first time since 2017. Meanwhile, Lille’s miserable form continues, as they have now recorded just one win in their last seven.
