It was a Côte d’Azur derby to forget for host side AS Monaco at the Stade Louis II on the evening of Friday, September 22, as the visiting Niçoise team overcame every assault from the Monegasques before scoring a goal of their own before the final whistle blew to mark a narrow 0-1 loss for Monaco.
Both Monaco and Nice remained undefeated in the five matches leading up to this derby between a couple of successful neighbours. However, and despite some oh-so-close shots, the hosts were unable to find the back of the net.
Unfortunately for star summer signing and US international Folarin Balogun, the new striker missed two penalties at the 12th and 56th minute, as both were saved by Nice goalie Marcin Bulka. With this, his first start in red and white, it is still far too early to judge the young player, but the pair of misses have become a prevalent talking point after the match among Monaco supporters.
While Monaco goalie Philippe Köhn may have conceded a goal one minute into injury time resulting in a 0-1 scoreline, the new goalie put in a big shift to keep a clean sheet until then, and Jeremie Boga’s 90+1 minute goal was almost unstoppable.
With this forgettable evening wrapped up, Monaco now provisionally drop down to second place in the Ligue 1 table, below Nice in first by just one point. With this in mind the Monegasques will look ahead to their upcoming fixture against Marseille at the Stade Louis II again, on Saturday, September 30.
