Ligue 1: 10-man AS Monaco fall to Lens
AS Monaco ended their campaign with a 4-0 defeat to RC Lens at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, with Soungoutou Magassa’s early second-half red card proving to be a pivotal moment.
The Match
For the final match of the term, Adi Hutter opted for significant squad rotation. George Ilenikhena was given the nod upfront, with Krepin Diatta, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Takumi Minamino, who was named captain, joining him in attack. In midfield, Lamine Camara partnered with Magassa, while Jordan Teze made his third consecutive start.
Backed by over 1,000 travelling Monaco fans, the game got off to a steady beginning, with the first real chance not coming until the 11th minute when Andy Diouf’s shot was inadvertently blocked by his teammate Goduine Koyalipou.
The Red and Whites responded with a pair of attempts – firstly through Minamino, whose cross was sharply cleared in the 17th minute, then courtesy of Ben Seghir, whose right-footed effort narrowly missed the post just two minutes later.
While AS Monaco had the early momentum, the home side opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a header from Neil El Aynaoui. Lens nearly doubled their advantage shortly after, but Koyalipou’s goal was disallowed by VAR for a foul on Camara.
Following this blow, Les Monegasques finished the half stronger even though Minamino and Ilenikhena failed to convert their opportunities, thus meaning the score was 0-1 at the interval.
The second half got off to a disastrous opening for AS Monaco, who were reduced to 10 men after Magassa was shown a straight red card.
Lens quickly capitalised, with El Aynaoui completing his brace just four minutes later.
Relishing piling the pressure on the short-handed Monaco, Les Sang et Or continued to push, as Adrien Thomasson bagged Lens’ third from a corner in the 71st minute before Anass Zaroury slotted their fourth (78th) to seal the deal for Will Still’s men.
Despite the loss, Monaco still secured third place to claim a spot in the Champions League, marking their eighth appearance in the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition, as well as their 31st podium finish in the top flight, a record in France.
Hutter’s Debrief
“First of all, I would like to congratulate Lens, because it was a deserved victory for them. The red card obviously had a big impact, even though I didn’t like the way we played in the first half. We didn’t want to lose this match, and we were expecting a completely different game,” explained the Austrian tactician.
“It’s obvious that fatigue played a role, as we’re finishing a very trying season, even though I wanted to see some players who have had little playing time in action. So, I’m disappointed with the result, but I think we have to remember our qualification for the Champions League, because that’s the most important thing.”
Key Stats
By the numbers, while Lens held the ascendancy in terms of expected goals (1.48 to 0.40), total shots (15 to 6), shots on target (5 to 4), shots inside the box (10 to 3), big chances created (5 to 1) and touches inside the box (25 to 10), the fact ASM had the edge in total passes (544 to 439), passes in the opposition half (228 to 168), possession (55% to 45%) and overall duels won (42 to 37) illustrated what a spirited showing they produced in the difficult circumstances.
Job Done
While this wasn’t the result Monaco were hoping for to close out their campaign, there’s no doubting it’s been another terrific season under Hutter’s tutelage. The team will now look forward to a well-earned break before turning their attention to the 2025/2026 crusade.
