Ligue 1: Biereth brilliance ensures AS Monaco breeze past Reims
Another Mika Biereth hat-trick, which was his third in a row at home in Ligue 1, powered AS Monaco to a 3-0 victory over Reims at the Stade Louis II under the eyes of President Dmitry Rybolovlev and David Trezeguet.
The Match
Facing off against a Reims team who had gone 12 matches without a league win but had recently eliminated ASM from the Coupe de France, the home side knew they had to be focused from the outset to achieve the victory they craved.
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And that they were, as Les Monegasques made a bright start to proceedings, with Biereth almost finding the back of the net early to signal their intent.
Further chances reigned on the Reims goal from the likes of Maghnes Akliouche, Moatasem Al-Musrati, Biereth and Breel Embolo, in what was a dominant start to this one by Monaco.
They were duly rewarded for their outstanding exploits when Biereth applied a classy finish to Caio Henrique’s superb delivery to propel them into a deserved lead in the 34th minute.
Biereth then doubled their advantage prior to the interval courtesy of another clinical strike to cap off a terrific opening stanza.
Enter the second half, and Biereth swiftly completed his treble from close range after Yehvann Diouf parried Embolo’s effort into his path. This goal impressively meant the Danish youth international has now already bagged three hat-tricks for ASM to remarkably bring his tally to 10 goals in seven matches since joining in January.
🔥🎥
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) February 28, 2025
3⃣-0⃣ #ASMSDR https://t.co/LBmFGjOt6P pic.twitter.com/7Rc1I4mDek
From this position, Les Rouge et Blanc comfortably saw out the game, even though Reims did create some danger, mainly through Keito Nakamura, who forced Radoslaw Majecki into some classy saves.
This excellent triumph now sees Monaco move into third, alongside OGC Nice, on a night where they underlined what a force to be reckoned with they are when playing at a level resembling their best.
"Ça va nous donner de la confiance pour la suite"
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) February 28, 2025
La réaction des Monégasques après le coup de sifflet final 🗣️👊
3⃣-0⃣ #ASMSDR pic.twitter.com/rh8RlBF6DD
Hutter’s Debrief
“It’s impressive (smile)! What he [Biereth] did again tonight by already reaching the 10-goal mark in Ligue 1, with a third hat-trick in a row in as many games, it’s huge! But I also want to compliment the whole team, who claimed a clean sheet tonight after a very good performance. We fully deserve this success, but what a remarkable match from Mika once again,” insisted a delighted Hutter.
“We wanted to continue the adventure in the Champions League, unfortunately this was not the case. But now we have more time to train and to pay attention to giving more stability to the team, as my assistant Christian Peintinger explained perfectly in the pre-match press conference. We have more opportunities to work on our small flaws and our shortcomings.
“Tonight’s clean sheet is a positive sign that proves that we also need to pay attention to our defensive work to regain our solidity. So I’m satisfied with our performance, especially since it wasn’t easy in the first half because Reims were very compact in a low block. We were looking for ways to build to try to score. It was much more open in the second, where our opponent was a little better, but I really liked our first half.”
Key Stats
By the numbers, the fact ASM held the ascendancy in terms of expected goals (3.88 to 0.63), big chances created (6 to 1), total shots (23 to 9), shots on target (9 to 5), shots inside the box (17 to 6), touches inside the box (59 to 15) and passes in the opposition half (335 to 168) aptly illustrated their superiority.
Toulouse Awaits
A difficult road test against Toulouse is next on the horizon for Hutter’s men, where they’ll be eager to replicate their masterful display vs. Reims to acquire all three points in swashbuckling style again.
