Kehrer, Balogun strike to take Monaco top
Match Reports
Top spot is theirs! After an incisive 2-1 win in Rennes, AS Monaco are now provisionally top of the Ligue 1 McDonald's table ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's clash with OGC Nice tomorrow. After Thilo Kehrer scored the opener, Folarin Balogun scored for the third league match in a row to help seal three points in a terse affair.
A new system pays off
AS Monaco manger Adi Hütter had shifted his side to play with a back three, bringing in summer signing Christian Mawissa and youngster Kassoum Ouattara. Rennes, off the back of a 3-1 loss to PSG last weekend, made a handful of changes as well, with both Baptiste Santamaria and Christopher Wooh being benched, and Albert Grøenbaek not in the squad.
For the visitors, the changes paid dividends nearly immediately, as Kehrer opened the scoring from a corner with just six minutes on the clock. Rennes were quick to respond, though, and Ludovic Blas scored his third goal of the season with a well-struck effort from range just five minutes later, leveling the match at one all. Their lead was only temporary, however, as in-form American national Balogun, following goals against Le Havre and Montpellier, found the net again, skillfully chipping Steve Mandanda on 22 minutes to regain the lead for his side.
Three consecutive L1 games with a goal, Folarin Balogun 🇺🇸❤️🔥
⚽️ vs. Le Havre
⚽️ vs. Montpellier
⚽️ vs. Rennes pic.twitter.com/nQsIHG7SXw— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) October 5, 2024
A hard-fought conclusion
Despite Monaco's exertions in the UEFA Champions League midweek, they continued to scrap for a third goal, but the next chance of consequence would fall to Rennes left back Adrien Truffert, who saw his effort kept out by Philipp Köhn in first-half stoppage time. In the second half, both sides would hit the woodwork, as Eliesse Ben Seghir, who had set up both of the Monégasques' goals, hit the bar, and Arnaud Kalimuendo struck the post with a fine effort of his own.
Both managers made a raft of changes, but none that would prove decisive, as the visitors held on for their sixth win in seven matches, enough to move ahead of PSG. Rennes, meanwhile, slip to tenth ahead of Sunday's action, with their defence under Julien Stéphan looking unsettled, having conceded 11 times since the start of the season. Speaking post-match, his counterpart, Monaco manager Hütter was more than pleased with the play of his young charges, saying "Sometimes we were lucky, we were defending all-out it's not our style of play, but it can happen in certain situations, depending on the opponent. But it doesn't matter, after seven games we have 19 points, so I'm really happy with this win tonight."
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