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Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Matchday 24, 28/02/26
AS Monaco extended their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to six games by beating SCO Angers 2-0. Sébastien Pocognoli’s side have closed the gap to fourth-placed Olympique de Marseille to just four points, although Habib Beye’s side do have one game in hand.
The Match
To put it kindly, the first half was a dull affair, deprived of intensity, quality and chances. The best, however, fell to the visitors, who always had two strikers on the last line of defence. It offered them two openings of note, one of which fell to Prosper Peter, who drew the first save of the game in the 32nd minute, and the other to Yassin Belkhdim, who was out through by Peter before flashing his shot across goal.
Monaco’s best chance fell to Lamine Camara, who lacked composure when played in by Aladji Bamba. The second half could only be better and it was almost immediately. Monaco registered their first shot on target through Ansu Fati, but on the break Angers remained a threat, and as he was in the first half, Belkhdim was released down the right. This time, he did get his effort on target, but couldn’t beat Kohn. It was Belkhdim who was then shown a red card for a late challenge on Lamine Camara. VAR spared him, but if there was a brief sense of relief, it evaporated moments later when Folarin Balogun netted the opener, a sloppy goal, but they count all the same.
Five minutes later, the lead was doubled. Simon Adingra was brought on at half-time to bring a spark, and he did that from the off and got his goal, cutting in on his right and curling into the far corner.
Thereafter, Monaco closed out the time efficiently, conceding few chances of note, albeit without creating many of their own. But it suffices to put Monaco right back in the race for fourth place, awaiting Sunday’s results.
Monaco player ratings
Philipp Kohn – 6
Thilo Kehrer – 4
Denis Zakaria – 5
Wout Faes – 4
Caio Henrique – 4
Replaced by Simon Adingra (7) at half-time. The Ivorian stretched the game, forced the Angers full-back back and created space for others. And when he got on the ball himself, he was effective. His goal was excellently taken and another example of the Sunderland loanee’s excellent technique.
Lamine Camara – 5
Aladji Bamba – 7
The academy product has an elegance about him that can be interpreted as noncholance, but when he is on his game, he is an excellent watch. He was constantly receiving on the half-turn and helping Monaco progress through a packed central zone. He was always looking to go forward, which is what you want from your pivot player, and it was he who created Monaco’s best chance of the first half, playing in Camara.
Jordan Teze – 6
Aleksandr Golovin – 3
Golovin has errors to atone for having been sent off having been sent off twice in two games, but he failed to do so on his return. The Russian regularly lost the ball through failing to read the runs of his attackers, imprecision or just poor decision-making. You feel a fear in his game, be it through his shying away from the ball or his reticence to play the killer pass or take a shot. His confidence looks very low.
Ansu Fati – 5
Folarin Balogun – 6
Angers selected player ratings
Prosper Peter – 7
There is such high potential here. The young Frenchman didn’t have too many touches but the ones he had he made count. Be it through his hold-up play, his ability to play his teammates in behind or his readiness to take a shot whenever the opportunity presented, he allowed Angers to exist in this game. It is his pace and power that will catch the eyes of scouts, but his decision-making and positioning are already excellent, too, at a young age.
Yassin Belkhdim – 4
GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Monaco