The first AS Monaco match of the year in the Stade Louis II swiftly turned into the Monegasques’ first loss of 2024, as visiting side Stade de Reims imposed a 1-3 loss on the hosts on the evening of Saturday, January 13.
A quiet start to the match was cut short by Reims’ Teddy Teuma, who sent a powerful shot under the crossbar to open the scoring for the hosts at the 34th minute.
Monaco’s hopes were resurrected shortly after the second half kicked off and by the usual suspects. A long curled ball courtesy of Aleksandr Golovin was diverted into the back of the Reims net by Monaco captain Wissam Ben Yedder to equalise at the 48th minute.
However, the Monegasque’s hopes were short lived, as Réda Khadra reclaimed the lead for Reims after a successful solo foray and a subsequent goal to make it 1-2 at the 54th minute.
Folarin Balogun came close to scoring against his former club four minutes into injury time, but his ball was captured. Then, in the dying moments of the match, Azor Matusiwa scored the fourth and final goal of the fixture to make it a 1-3 loss for Monaco just before the final whistle.
The Monegasques remain in third place in the Ligue 1 table despite this loss, and must now focus on the upcoming Coupe de France Round of 32 match against Ligue 2 side Rodez on Saturday, January 20.
Featured image courtesy of AS Monaco
