Monaco suffered a severe home defeat this past Saturday, losing to Strasbourg 5-1. The Monegasques, led by French skipper Thierry Henry, were thoroughly trampled in a rather shocking result even for the 19th place team.
Monaco, quickly reduced to ten following the exclusion of Naldo, crashed and burned against Strasbourg (1-5 )Saturday night at the Stade Louis-II, for the 21st day of Ligue 1 play. Strasbourg’s Ajorque put in an excellent performance, authoring two goals and an assist.
Despite the presence of new recruits Cesc Fabregas, Naldo, and Ballo-Toure, Monaco has yet to put together a winning performance at home thus far this season. In this match, it was actually those very same recruits who produced difficult situations for the embattled side.
The tirade of issues began when Naldo was given a red card in the 6th minute. Another big mistake came when Fabregas lost the ball in Monaco’s box giving way to a goal from Sissoko, which allowed Strasbourg to create separation (3-1, 64′).
In 11 Ligue 1 home games, Monaco has registered just four points coming from four draws and seven losses. As of right now, the team is sinking consistently into relegation. Saturday night, following the abrupt ejection of Naldo, a key hub in their defensive scheme, the Monegasques quickly seemed lost. Ajorque capitalized on their clumsy approach to the following minutes by turning in a magnificent header off of equally beautiful service from Lala in the 12th minute. Five minutes later, it was Thomasson’s turn to beat Glik to score a second Alsatian goal, again with a header but this time from nearly 16 meters (0-2, 17′).
Colombian striker Radamel Falcao gave a bit of hope to his team, with a nice cross-shot from the left after a good pass from Tielemans (1-2, 22′). Moreover, Alsatian defender Mitrovic missed an opportunity just before break, sending a header crashing off the bar (42′).
After the break, Monaco, looking to attack and equalize, was caught out several times on the counter. Sissoko created some distance off of an assist from Ajorque (1-3, 64′), with another goal coming in shortly after (1-4, 68′). Finally, Fofana closed out the scoring rampage(1-5, 90′ + 4), to conclude a sad showing from hosts Monaco.