On Thursday evening, during the first day of Group H competition in the Europa League, AS Monaco prevailed over Red Star Belgrade by a score of 1-0. Here are our most successful and unsuccessful ideas from the meeting.
TOPS
Embolo saves Monaco
Breel Embolo was one of the greatest Monegasques this Thursday evening, even though he only played for a quarter of an hour after coming into the game to replace Ben Yedder in the 68th minute. The incident that results in the penalty is started by the Swiss striker, and he is the one who converts it (74th). He offered an aggressive reality that was capable of causing a threat to Monaco, which was exactly what the team needed. At the very end of the game, he came dangerously close to drawing a second penalty, which the video assistant referee (VAR) ultimately decided not to award (90th).
SEE ALSO – Breel Embolo’s winning goal against OGC Nice (0-1)
Belgrade Trio
Etoile Rouge has been successful in acquiring several opportunities, to the point where Monaco has been alarmed multiple times. Two different duos, Sanogo and Kanga in the midfield, and Bukari and Katai on the attack are mostly responsible for these pretty attacking intentions. One of the two couples is engaged in practically every opportunity that the Serbian team has: Bukari’s face-to-face in the 43rd minute, Kanga’s bar in the 56th minute, the free kick, then Katai’s strike in the 66th minute (61st, 70th). As for Sanogo, he closed the gathering having completed more than 77% of his passes successfully and having won more than half of his duels. The Ivorian fighter was the conductor at the beginning of actual straightforward actions.
FLOPS
Ben Yedder misses
What a challenging beginning to the campaign it has been for the French international… Again tonight, Monaco was forced to rely on his midfield block by Camara-Fofana or the side straight with Vanderson’s percussion since Wissam Ben Yedder was unable to make a significant contribution to the team’s success. In the first half, there was an obvious absence of a genuine attacking threat, which prevented the Monegasques from making the most of the opportunities they had. Ben Yedder was substituted in the 68th minute to make room for striker Embolo. Before his substitution, Ben Yedder did not take any shots, did not dribble the ball, and lost 12 balls. In addition to this, he has a pass completion rate of only 59%.
Many mistakes
The two teams who competed this evening racked up a combined total of 30 fouls and 6 yellow cards by the time the match was over. A blemish on an otherwise appealing contest in which Monaco and Belgrade both had great moments in response to each other’s best play. This excessive use of defense severely threw off the rhythm of the game, which had started well with a lot of positive passion and energy. A change in attitude was represented by the electric duel that took place between Bukari and Badiashile, who slowed the tempo and diminished their respective domination. In addition to this, the Monaco players swiftly applied a great deal of pressure by pushing themselves forward to regain possession of the ball… Unluckily, it’s not very well controlled.