The Monegasques survived a major scare this evening in a topsy-turvy encounter, having led by three goals but being taken to extra-time by Chambly before claiming a narrow 5-4 win.
Between last Sunday’s trip to Paris and the visit of OGN Nice next Saturday (17.00), this Coupe de France round of 32 tie against FC Chambly, currently 6th in the National league, looked to be a potential banana skin for Leonardo Jardim’s men. The AS Monaco coach went with a reshuffled side, but kept faith with his now traditional 4-4-2 formation. Pierre Nguida was handed his first start at right-back alongside Glik, Raggi and Diallo. Up front, the partnership of Mbappé and Carrillo spearheaded the attack and featured prominently inside the opening fifteen minutes. Kylian launched an offensive down the left and beat his defender before unleashing a shot that was blocked. The ball rebounded to the Argentine striker, who pounced to stroke home and put AS Monaco 1-0 up.
Moments later, Morgan De Sanctis produced a top drawer stop to preserve the Monegasque lead. From a left wing cross, Lefaix met the ball on the volley from the edge of the box, but the AS Monaco ‘keeper dived full length to tip away the superb effort. The visitors were well on top, though, and made their dominance pay as Thomas Lemar stretched their lead. After good work from Mbappé, the ball fell to Carrillo who set up Lemar in the area with a fine header. The French international duly slammed home to hand AS Monaco a 2-0 half-time lead.
Barely minutes into the second period, Mbappé showed all his talent. After one great chance that saw him dribble past three defenders, the young Monegasque forward seized on a cross fro Nguinda to head into the net. That third goal spurred Chambly into life, and they reduced the deficit five minutes later with a magnificent volley by Soubervie. Chambly were suddenly looking much sharper and pulled back a second goal in the 81st minute through Gendrey. Five minutes after that, Raggi was dismissed by match referee Mr Hamel for a reckless tackle. The Red & Whites were made to pay, and conceded a third goal in injury time, as Soubervie notched his second of the game. It was a tough blow to take for the visitors, as the game went to extra-time.
Despite being down to 10 men following Raggi’s red card, Leonardo Jardim’s men held firm during extra time. Ndoram’s nonchalance and Glik’s experience were rewa rded with goals in the 95th and 102nd minutes, both coming from corners taken by Moutinho. Though Padovani pulled one back in the 111th minute, the visitors saw out the game to survive a big scare and claim a 5-4 win that sends them through to the next round. The draw for the last 16 of the Coupe de France (28 February – 1 March) will take place on Wednesday evening, while the Red & Whites’ next opponents are OGC Nice in Saturday’s derby clash (kick-off at 17.00).
Source of text and photos: www.asmonaco.com
