Coupe de France: AS Monaco advances into the Round of 16 with win over Rodez
AS Monaco returned to winning ways with a superb victory over Rodez in the Coupe de France, in a game where Wissam Ben Yedder’s masterful hat-trick dominated the headlines.
The Match
Knowing Rodez would provide a stern test and what a force they are to be reckoned with at home, Adi Hutter selected a strong side for this one.
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The in-form Rodez immediately put ASM on the back foot, as they unleashed some dangerous early sighters. But Monaco held firm and took the lead themselves on 10 minutes when Ben Yedder expertly fired home his penalty that was won by Folarin Balogun to score his 250th club goal of his career.
Rodez responded admirably and were quickly back on level terms through Stone Mambo in front of their delighted fans.
The game then settled down following this frantic start, with the intensity dialling back a notch while both teams regathered themselves.
With the scores even at the interval, Hutter opted to bring on exciting youngster Maghnes Akliouche for the second stanza. And this proved an inspired move, for the talented playmaker really helped tilt the tie in Monaco’s favour.
Adding some extra dynamism and unpredictability, it wasn’t long until Monaco surged back ahead courtesy of Ben Yedder, who tapped in from close range following some incisive work by Akliouche and Balogun.
Les Monegasques then doubled their advantage eight minutes later, as Ben Yedder superbly applied the finishing touch to Kassoum Ouattara’s exceptional cross.
The visitors then saw out the remainder of the match without too much fuss, despite a few efforts from Rodez to get back into the contest, to secure a vital 1-3 victory.
Hutter’s Debrief
“It’s very important to have qualified tonight. I wasn’t very happy with the first 45 minutes. We played too slowly in transitions for my taste, and it was too easy for Rodez to organise themselves, especially with the block they had put in place. We were good in the second half, and we were finally able to show all our qualities. I would still like to congratulate our opponents, who played a very good match, especially in the first half,” explained the Austrian tactician.
Key Stats
By the numbers, although ASM held the ascendancy in terms of overall expected goals (2.65 to 2.60), possession (67% to 33%) and passes in the opposition half (292 to 112), the fact Rodez edged them for open play expected goals (1.82 to 1.69) total shots (17 to 11) and shots inside the box (12 to 9) illustrated what a tough examination the Ligue 2 side provided.
OM Awaits
Up next for Les Rouge et Blanc is a colossal Ligue 1 encounter with Olympique de Marseille, where they’ll be looking for a huge win to get their Champions League qualification hopes back on track given they’ve lost two of their last three league matches.
“This clash against Olympique de Marseille will be completely different, because a Coupe de France match and a Ligue 1 match have nothing to do with each other, especially away from home. We will have to be ready for the fight,” insisted Hutter.