PLAYER RATINGS | Saint-Étienne 1-3 Monaco: Les Monégasques strike important blow in race for Champions League football | OneFootball

Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Round 31, 03/05/25

AS Monaco secured a 3-1 win at the Stade-Geoffrey Guichard over relegation-threatened AS Saint-Étienne to leap up to second in the table (ahead of Lille OSC and Olympique de Marseille’s clash tomorrow evening) and strengthen their bid for Champions League football.

The Match

The visitors were off to a fast start, scoring on their first foray into the Saint-Étienne half. It was a sweeping move from Les Monégasques with Takumi Minamino spreading the ball out wide to Caio Henrique, who slid a pass across the box towards Maghnes Akliouche, unmarked at the far post. The winger tapped home to give Monaco a 1-0 lead from the second minute.

Despite the good start, it was bad news for Monaco as Mika Biereth was forced off the pitch following a clash with Mickaël Nade, with Breel Embolo coming on as his replacement. Biereth has scored 13 in the league since joining in January, and in this match, had shown glimpses of his ability to drop deep and create for his teammates.

Even with his absence, Monaco should have doubled their lead with Akliouche coming close to registering a brace after Minamino’s line-breaking pass found the winger one-on-one with Gautier Larsonneur. However, Akliouche could only fire at the advancing goalkeeper.

Saint-Étienne had a great chance to level the scores after the break when Zuriko Davitashvili sprinted down the wing on the fast break. The winger had options with Saint-Étienne players outnumbering the Monaco defence, but he looked to take the shot, firing high and out for a goal kick.

The winger was able to make up for his earlier mistake when he received the ball outside Monaco’s box. He took one touch to set himself before firing a stunning curling effort into the right-hand corner to set this tie alight, or at the very least, start a fire under Monaco, who hit back almost immediately.

Minamino’s shot was blocked, but the rebound fell near the captain, Denis Zakaria. The midfielder dove to shift the ball towards the substitute Al-Musrati, who fired home for his first Ligue 1 goal to restore Monaco’s slim lead.

Folarin Balogun would put the finishing touches on this match when he chased a ball over the top, forcing Maxime Bernauer into a terrible clearance that fell to Akliouche. The winger slipped the striker through, and Larsonneur this time would come out worse in the one-on-one.

Monaco Player Ratings

Philipp Köhn – 5

Caio Henrique – 7

Christian Mawissa – 5

Wilfried Singo – 6

Jordan Teze – 6

Takumi Minamino – 7

Denis Zakaria – 6

Soungoutou Magassa – 5

Maghnes Akliouche – 7

A weird game where he blew hot and cold. He was clearly vital, considering he got a goal and an assist. However, he also missed a gilt-edged chance in the first half and at times struggled to deliver the final ball.

Folarin Balogun – 5

An encouraging match for the striker on his first start since returning from a lengthy injury. He eventually was on the scoresheet late into the game with a nicely taken shot, but perhaps did not offer much before the goal. Still, there were promising signs, and Monaco will hope to rely on him in the final two games of the season.

Mika Biereth – N/A

Replaced by Breel Embolo (3) early into the game. The substitute had a really poor game, where he looked out of sync with his teammates and provided little threat. He was later substituted in the match.

Saint-Étienne Selected Player Ratings

Zurkio Davitashvili – 5

Irvin Cardona – 3

It was another disappointing night for last season’s promotion hero. The winger struggled against Monaco and created very little for his teammates.

Maxime Bernauer – 3

GFFN | Nick Hartland