Sofiane Diop got the crucial goal as Monaco kicked off their 2022/23 Ligue 1 Uber Eats campaign with a win at Strasbourg on Saturday.
THE MATCH
Monaco gave themselves a confidence boost ahead of next week's crucial UEFA Champions League play-off second leg at PSV Eindhoven with a battling win in Alsace against a Strasbourg side tipped as outside bets for a top-three finish this term.
Summer recruit Breel Embolo started the game in attack alongside Diop and Krepin Diatta, back in Philippe Clement's squad after recovering from a serious knee injury, and after Sanjin Prcic had tested Alex Nübel from distance (5'), Diop had the visitors' first chance of note: a firmer connection might not have given Matz Sels the opportunity to keep the ball out (9').
The Belgium international was scrambling again shortly afterwards to paw away an audacious Jean Lucas effort (12') as Strasbourg, who boasted a four-game unbeaten run at home to Monaco, struggled to cope with the principality side's intensity.
Sels and Nübel traded saves from Ismail Jakobs (29') and Ludovic Ajorque (38') before Monaco brilliantly took the lead. Diatta, who had played under Clement at Club Brugge before joining Monaco in January 2021, claimed only his second Ligue 1 Uber Eats goal with a magnificent volley after Axel Disasi had headed on a corner (43').
Habib Diallo almost pulled Julien Stéphan's side level immediately afterwards, but Nübel made another stop, this time from close range, to deny the Senegal international forward and pick up where he left off late last season (45').
A Disasi block to an Ajorque shot and a Sels save from Diatta in the same minute (48') maintained the scoreline, but Diop soon doubled Monaco's lead. The former Rennes prodigy played a one-two on the right with Gelson Martins before crossing. His delivery ricocheted off Dimitri Lienard and was parried by Sels, but the ball ran kindly for Diop, who made no mistake (53').
The Strasbourg number one was luckier when Jean Lucas struck a post after bursting through (60') and Diallo then headed home a Thomas Delaine cross at the far post (65') to give the hosts hope. Kevin Gameiro was brought on to bolster Strasbourg's firepower, and Diallo thought he had equalised in added time (90+2'), but VAR spotted he was in an offside position when he headed home.
THE PLAYER: Alexander Nübel
The German goalkeeper had a nervy start to life in Monaco last season, but he began confidently here and made a handful of saves that ensured his team got off to a winning start.
THE STAT: 10
This was Strasbourg's first home league defeat of 2022 — previously, they had won six and drawn three.
