Lille vs Monaco Review
Hákon Arnar Haraldsson scored his first Ligue 1 double, leading Lille to a 2-1 victory over Monaco at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy and temporarily securing third place for his team. With over ten years since Lille last qualified for the UEFA Champions League in consecutive seasons, the team’s eagerness to change that was evident in a strong first half. After Radosław Majecki saved a shot from Ngal’ayel Mukau aimed at the bottom-right corner, Haraldsson opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, finishing off a series of passes with Mukau setting him up perfectly.
Monaco clearly struggled to recover from the psychological impact of their midweek elimination from the UCL by Benfica, and Krépin Diatta exemplified this struggle. He played a significant part in allowing Lille to score their second goal just before halftime with a poorly executed pass across the box, which led to Haraldsson scoring his second goal after an initial save from Majecki.
However, just two minutes later, the last play of the half saw Monaco’s hat-trick hero from the previous week, Mika Biereth, make a clever pass inside the box to Takumi Minamino, who scored with a first-time shot past Lucas Chevalier. This shifted the momentum of the match, but in the early minutes of the second half, there was little indication of a real comeback from Monaco, aside from Vanderson creating a few chances that were ultimately thwarted by Lille’s defense, and a shot that was blocked around the hour mark.
Monaco had difficulty creating the necessary passing plays consistently enough to score a late equalizer. There was a promising opportunity about ten minutes before the end when a failed clearance from a corner allowed Wilfried Singo to deliver a cross into the area aimed at George Ilenikhena, who could only deflect the ball away instead of making a direct attempt to score. Substitute Breel Embolo also missed a chance when he was blocked after breaking through, as did Minamino when he received a rebound in the box.
Ultimately, Lille managed to secure a tense victory, which not only puts them back in contention for the UCL group stage qualification but also marks their first consecutive league wins since October. Meanwhile, Monaco has now gone six away matches without a win, and with an average of two goals conceded per game during this stretch, serious questions need to be raised about their defense if they hope to qualify for the UCL in May.
