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Match Reports

Honors even in Reims as hosts hold Monaco to a scoreless draw

After a pulsing draw between LOSC Lille and Olympique de Marseille -- one of several top-tier clashes on the docket in Ligue 1 McDonald's in this final matchday of 2024 -- Stade de Reims and AS Monaco took centre stage on Saturday night with the Principality side eager to move back ahead of their competitors for the top four. While neither side was able to break what ended up being a scoreless draw, it was hardly a dull affair, with both sides having fine chances.
E. DEVIN
Published on 12/15/2024 at 00:00
2-minute read
Takumi Minamino was unable to help AS Monaco edge Stade de Reims

Monaco in the ascendancy

Despite a galling defeat in the week against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League, the visitors were eager to get back to winning ways on the road in Champagne, despite the absence of goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki, a late scratch through injury. Without Majecki, manager Adi Hütter deployed a young side, playing a 3-4-3, with Jordan Teze and Kassoum Ouattara playing as wingbacks, while Reims' Luka Elsner lined his team up in their familiar 4-2-3-1. 

The first half was largely one-way traffic as Aleksandr Golovin tried his luck with an effort that flashed over the bar before Eliesse Ben Seghir and Takumi Minamino  -- facing his Japanese international teammates -- also spurned chances to put the Principality side ahead. Minamino was the visitors' brightest player, but subsequent efforts on the half hour would be denied by Yehvann Diouf in the Reims goal. The best chance of the half would fall to Keito Nakamura, but he fared not better than his Samurai Blue teammate, dragging wide a first-time finish with the goal gaping.

In the second half, despite both Elsner and Hütter making a raft of changes, good chances were even more scarce in the second half. Minamino had a good chance with fifteen minutes to play, and another in stoppage time but he was again unable to get past Diouf, leaving the two sides to share the spoils.

While there's not to be another full round of fixtures, Monaco, who now sit third with the draw, will face Paris Saint-Germain in the week in a fixture that's been brought forward to accommodate the Trophée des Champions being played in early January. As for Reims, they'll conclude their 2024 with a Coupe de France match against amateur side Still-Mutzig on Sunday.

The stat

Philipp Kohn is yet to lose in any of his eight Ligue 1 McDonald's matches for AS Monaco this season, having won six and drawn two of those.  

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