AS Monaco wins vs. Saint-Etienne 4-0
The Red & Whites produced a masterful display of technique and tactics to cruise to a 4-0 win at Saint-Etienne. Sidibé, Lemar, Fabinho and Baldé were the goalscorers.
AS Monaco started the match at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium with a line-up that has become familiar of late, with Leonardo Jardin indicating he had every intention of putting an end to his team’s winless run in Saint-Etienne, where they had not taken three points for a decade. Against a side struggling for form in the league, the visitors started strongly and went ahead inside the 4th minute, Djibril Sidibé seizing on a deflected shot to slam home from the edge of the box. The chances came thick and fast for Monaco, as Falcao, Lopes and Fabinho with a long range effort all went close to making it two. In the end it was Thomas Lemar who doubled the Red & Whites’ lead with a solo effort through the middle and make it 2-0 to the Monegasques at half-time.
The second half was more one way traffic, and after ten minutes, Lopes hit an effort that Ruffier could only parry to Fabinho. The Brazilian slotted home his side’s third of the night. The Saint-Etienne ‘keeper was incensed by the goal and was rightly shown a red card for remonstrating with the referee’s assistant. Down to ten men, the task became an impossible one for ASSE and Baldé got in on the act for the visitors, cracking a shot past Moulin after good work from Fabinho. The 4-0 win takes AS Monaco three points ahead of Lyon and Marseille, who face each other on Sunday at 21.00. The Red & Whites’ next fixture is at the Louis-II on Wednesday, where they play Rennes in the final game before the winter break (20.50).
