Wissam ben Yedder set up Jean Lucas' early opener and then netted a Ligue 1 Uber Eats-leading 14th goal of the season as Monaco defeated Lyon 2-0 on Saturday to move into fourth place in the French top flight.
MONACO 2-0 LYON
THE MATCH
Lyon headed to the Stade Louis II on the back of three straight wins, and knowing they had won all of their last four top-flight meetings with a Monaco side that had given Philippe Clement a win, a loss and a draw in his first three L1 games in charge. Soon, however, they would also learn it was not to be their night.
Jean Lucas left Lyon after a disappointing two years in which he failed to find the net to join Monaco in the summer: within two minutes, he headed home from close range, providing the finishing touch to Ben Yedder's flighted cross to give his former employers food for thought.
But for Anthony Lopes, there would have been many more to add to it. The Lyon 'keeper denied Gelson Martins (11') and then kicked away a Jean Lucas shot (15') before he was brilliantly beaten by Ben Yedder.
The Monaco captain had received a backheel from Sofiane Diop to free him to cross for the opening goal. This time, Diop slipped a perfectly weighted ball into the path of his captain, and with Lopes advancing, Ben Yedder scooped a sublime shot over the Lyon goalkeeper and in off the far post (27').
Alexander Nübel in the Monaco net was barely troubled, though he did watch with relief as Axel Disasi sent a Jerome Boateng shot looping over (37'), and he required Guillermo Maripan to clear a Moussa Dembélé header after the on-loan Bayern Munich goalkeeper had hesitated (43').
If Monaco were impressive going forward in the first half, they were equally so defensively in the second as they kept Lyon at bay, despite the visitors dominating territory and possession. Peter Bosz's men might have enjoyed a better outcome, however, had Nübel's reactions not enabled him to block Castello Lukeba's close-range shot and Kevin Volland not bravely headed clear when under pressure from Dembélé all in the space of a frantic 30 seconds (52').
The half-time introductions of new signings Tanguy Ndombélé and Romain Faivre, as well as teenage prodigy Rayan Cherki certainly upped the tempo of Lyon's play as they switched from a back three to back four, but they were unable to significantly trouble Nübel further as Monaco moved above Lyon, Montpellier, Rennes and Strasbourg to the foot of the podium.
THE PLAYER: Wissam ben Yedder
The Monaco captain may be 31, but shows no signs of losing his touch in front of goal. He now has two more than his nearest challenger in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats scoring chart — Lille's Jonathan David — and displayed the deft, ice-cold touch of a natural born goalscorer to double his side's lead. He might have had more too.
THE STAT: 4
Monaco have now won their last four home league games, and are unbeaten in their last nine - winning seven - at the Stade Louis II.
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