Analysis: Brilliant Balogun and impressive Teze catch the eye in AS Monaco's win vs Saint-Etienne

AS Monaco recorded their first away win in Ligue 1 since March 15 by defeating AS Saint-Etienne 1-3 in a game where Maghnes Akliouche drew the headlines, but Folarin Balogun and Jordan Teze also impressed.

In the aftermath of this important contest, this gives us the opportunity to shine the spotlight on why Balogun and Teze were so influential in this one.

Teze terrific

Despite being used sparingly by Adi Hutter in 2025, largely due to injury, it was excellent to see Teze put in such a strong shift at right-back.

Doing a tremendous job of nullifying the dangerous Zuriko Davitashvili, his physicality, awareness, decision-making and athleticism ensured the Georgian star struggled to find much joy against Teze.

Attentive to danger, getting touchtight whenever possible, fully concentrated and positionally sound, the way he handled 1v1 and 2v1 situations so expertly was especially admirable.

Managing the 2v1 expertly to break up the attack

Breaking up play successfully, regularly outmuscling his foe and generally keeping Davitashvili under wraps, there was much to like about how he stuck to his task and executed his defensive work with assuredness and authority.

Teze diligently tracking Davitashvili’s run and winning the duel emphatically

The fact the Georgian scored his screamer just after Teze was substituted off was no coincidence and further illustrated how masterfully he limited the ASSE ace’s impact.

Meanwhile, going forward, Teze displayed his value as well, for he fired in some wicked crosses, played some wonderful through balls and embarked on some incisive overlaps and underlaps to elevate ASM’s attacking impetus.

By the numbers, his four ball recoveries, four completed long passes, two accurate crosses and two interceptions, in combination with Davitashvili only having two shots (one when Teze was on), completing zero dribbles and winning one of his seven offensive duels aptly depicted what a tremendous shift he produced.

While his performance didn’t grab the headlines, Teze deserves plenty of praise for stepping up to repay the faith of Hutter with such an accomplished outing in such a pivotal fixture. Not bad at all considering he’d only featured in three games totalling 79 minutes of action this year heading into this encounter.

Balogun proves his worth

Making his first start in 2025 following his frustrating shoulder injury, which he’s steadily being eased back from, Balogun marked the occasion nicely by scoring a classy goal and putting in a quality all-round performance.

“Playing 90 minutes is definitely a positive thing for my fitness and confidence. It’s good to have helped the team win by scoring a goal. I was really happy, but I thought I might be flagged offside. So, I was a little nervous about celebrating. I was happy anyway because this goal gave us the opportunity to take a lead in this game, and we needed that,” reflected the USMNT hotshot in his post-match comments.

To begin with his goal, and this underlined his striking instincts, where he smartly stayed onside to latch onto the bobbling ball before striding ahead to finish with aplomb. Clinical, composed and confident, how he took his chance with such immense conviction was a pleasure to watch.

Also giving ASSE headaches with his crafty movement, Balogun was a real threat courtesy of his nifty runs into the box, powerful runs in behind and down the channels and from his clever drops deep.

Also dovetailing well with his fellow attackers and offering his team a terrific target, there was no doubting what a handy focal point he was.

Indeed, his explosive early burst in behind was a key element towards ASM’s opener, as he effectively destabilised Saint-Etienne’s backline with his astutely timed and directed run to ultimately allow Akliouche to find himself in a 3v2 to ripple the back of the net.

Intelligent run to breathe life into the move that led to ASM’s opener

His intense pressing was a crucial aspect too, for he set the tone wonderfully for his colleagues to follow and made life extremely difficult for Les Verts to pass out from the back smoothly.

“When he got injured, he was on an upward trajectory, scoring three goals in a row in the league. This handicapped us because he is capable of playing deep, allowing us to stretch opposing defences and gives freedom to the number 10s. We saw his importance; he made a lot of runs,” Krepin Diatta explained after the match.

“We’ll need him, and, like I said, everyone is important. We just have to pull together and fight for this club and the fans. He’s someone I like. I spoke to him this week, saying he was back and could help us a lot. He did it today. I’m very happy for him, and I hope he does it again in the last two games.”

Serving as a real asset to Monaco on both sides of the ball, Balogun offered a brilliant reminder of all he brings to the table. And seeing as Mika Biereth went off injured in this one, his presence appears destined to be vital again for Monaco in their colossal penultimate match of the campaign vs Olympique Lyonnais this weekend.