Benoît Badiashile was left bitterly disappointed on his return to the AS Monaco starting line-up, his headed goal proving of little significance in a 4-1 defeat to RC Lens.
Monaco have endured a stuttering start to the season. They beat RC Strasbourg Alsace on the opening day but were subsequently edged out of UEFA Champions qualifying by PSV Eindhoven before last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Stade Rennais FC.
Badiashile was only fit enough for the final eight minutes against Rennes after overcoming a muscular injury, but he was restored to the starting line-up against Lens and looked to have kept the game alive when he headed home a Caio Henrique corner to make it 2-1.
But Lens added to Loïs Openda's and Deiver Machado's first-half goal with a Seko Fofana penalty and late Wesley Saïd strike, and Badiashile pulled no punches on his teammate's behalf after the final whistle.
🔚 Full time! Three-goal win for @RCLens at Monaco!#ASMRCL pic.twitter.com/OnuZtdpWAi
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) August 20, 2022
"It was a heavy defeat, but I think we deserved it," he said. "We didn't put the right ingredients in and can only blame ourselves. We didn't play as we had to. We have to keep our heads up. It's only the start of the season but it's very hard.
"There was never a moment where we thought we could turn the game around and that's what saddens me a bit. We'll keep working hard."
Saïd, whose team move into a provisional first place, was unsurprisingly upbeat when asked for his opinion in the Stade Louis II tunnel.
"We really are a group," he said. "Everyone's involved, everyone wants to do things. We're all obsessed with the same objective. The team is more important that the individual, that's how it was today and we're very happy.
"It's good to be top but the season is long. It's through performances like these that we can dream."
