AS Saint-Etienne 0-4 AS Monaco

THE MATCH

Monaco started the day four points adrift of the podium so the pressure was on Niko Kovac’s side in their quest for UEFA Champions League qualification, and they duly delivered in a one-sided victory against a Saint-Etienne team by no means safe from the threat of relegation.

The principality club started strongly and saw Jovetic crash a thunderous volley off the underside of the crossbar in the opening minutes before they won a penalty for a handball by Mathieu Debuchy. Jovetic stepped up to take the 12th-minute spot-kick but his effort came back off the left-hand upright to the relief of Stefan Bajic, the 19-year-old starting in the home goal after Jessy Moulin tested positive for Covid-19.

However, Monaco went in front in the 13th minute as Jovetic made up for his penalty miss, collecting a pass by Aurélien Tchouaméni on the edge of the area before angling a low shot into the corner of the net.

Diatta scores with first touch

The visitors then ran away with the game in the second half as midfielder Tchouaméni - who has been called up by France for the upcoming Under-21 Euro - made it 2-0 in the 55th minute, firing powerfully past Bajic after exchanging passes with Aleksandr Golovin.

Monaco then added further goals as Sofiane Diop intercepted a pass infield by Yvan Neyou before running through and beating Bajic with a lovely chip (64’). Cesc Fàbregas then helped on a low Kevin Volland cross from the left for substitute Krépin Diatta to fire in his first Ligue 1 Uber Eats goal with his first touch of the game in the 76th minute and wrap up the victory.

Kovac’s side remain fourth but they are just a point adrift of both Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais before those sides play each other on Sunday. Saint-Etienne remain six points clear of the bottom three before the rest of the weekend’s games.

THE PLAYER: Stevan Jovetic

The Montenegro forward was handed just his third league start of the season as Kovac left Wissam Ben Yedder on the bench at kick-off, and Jovetic had a big impact. His head might have gone down after he struck the bar and then hit the post with a penalty in the first 12 minutes, but soon after he got the opening goal, his fourth in the league this season, to set Monaco on the way to victory.

THE STAT: 4

This win matches Monaco’s biggest ever top-flight victory against Saint-Etienne - they also won 4-0 at Le Chaudron in December 2017. They are the first team to score four goals from just four shots on target in a Ligue 1 game since Nîmes Olympique against FC Nantes in February 2019 and have now kept four clean sheets in their last five league games.

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