PLAYER RATINGS | Monaco 1-0 Aston Villa: Wilfried Singo leads hosts to first win of 2025 | OneFootball

Going into the penultimate matchday of their Champions League group stage campaign, Monaco had been winless since the turn of the year. Their ongoing crisis had found its root in a late collapse at home against Benfica at the end of November, in which they gave up all three points in the final ten minutes of the game against the Lisbon side.

In their first home match on the continental stage since then, Adi Hütter’s men had the chance to provisionally climb back into the automatic last-16 spot, against an Aston Villa side who were already among the competition’s top eight teams.

Having created the clearer chances in the opening exchanges, it was Monaco who took an early lead from their first corner of the game, won by Maghnes Akliouche. The ensuing set-piece saw Emiliano Martínez parry Thilo Kehrer’s initial header, but Wilfried Singo — on his return to the team after a back issue – was on hand to convert the close-range chance for his second goal of the European campaign.

The Villans would push for an equaliser for the rest of the half, only to be denied by an imperious Radosław Majecki, who twice denied Ollie Watkins — the second time, shortly before half-time the England striker was played through on goal by Emiliano Buendía, only to be denied by the Pole’s quick reflexes to get down to the ground in time.

The Principality side would almost double their lead straight after the restart, with Akliouche turning in a Vanderson cross at the near post, only for the strike to be ruled out after an instant offside call. The onslaught of attacks from the visitors that followed, meanwhile, was confidently countered by a resurgent Monaco defence. With Singo returning to the backline alongside Thilo Kehrer, the Monégasques appeared to have recovered the defensive authority on which their early-season form was built, with both Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán unable to break through.

A first win of 2025 for Hütter’s side sees them secure a spot in the play-offs, at the very least. A top-eight spot, though, will go down to the final matchday, as Monaco travel just across the Alps to face Inter. More than the return to form on the European stage, Tuesday’s win could provide the momentum for the Principality team to revive their challenge to Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 — even if a misfiing attack remains the glaring issue.

Monaco player ratings

Radosław Majecki, 8 – The Pole’s crucial first-half saves denied the visitors an instant response, while the shots he faced in the second were somewhat more manageable.

Vanderson, 6

Wilfried Singo, 10 – An imperious display from the Ivorian, who ruthlessly neutralised Ollie Watkins’ threat, and also fended off Jhon Durán once the Colombian came on.  A well-taken early goal which would turn out to be the winner.

Thilo Kehrer, 8

Christian Mawissa, 7

Denis Zakaria, 7

Lamine Camara, 7 – It was the Senegalese midfielder’s precisely-placed corner which led to the Monaco goal. He would be the orchestrator of Monaco’s counter-attacks in the ten-minute spell which followed, before retreating back to help the hosts win the midfield battle.

Maghnes Akliouche, 6

Takumi Minamino, 4 – A frustrating evening for the Japanese international, who found himself with space to run into on multiple occasions but was denied by the Aston Villa defence, as well as his own poor decision-making. Midway through the second half, he notably missed Breel Embolo in open space in order to meander through the defence himself – only to be dispossessed by Mings.

Eliesse Ben Seghir, 4

Breel Embolo, 5 – The Swiss international was short on clear-cut chances and was often isolated up front, although his work-rate in the second half – dropping deep to retain the ball whilst Monaco were on the back foot – proved crucial to securing the win. “He was a leader on the pitch”, remarked his coach after the game, underscoring Embolo’s holistic role as the focal point of the attack, beyond his troubles in front of goal.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin – reporting from the Stade Louis-II, Monaco