AS Monaco kicked off their pre-season campaign with a comfortable 5-2 victory over AS Saint-Priest on Saturday, July 18, marking new head coach Filipe Luís’s first match in charge from the touchline. The friendly, held at Monaco’s Centre de Performance, was watched by club president Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Fielding a heavily rotated squad across the two halves, Monaco started brightly under Luís’s 3-4-3 setup, which included debuts for new signings Flávio Nazinho and Mathys Detourbet. Pape Cabral and Aleksandr Golovin both threatened early, though Golovin saw a goal ruled out after twelve minutes. Thilo Kehrer and Mika Biereth were also denied by Saint-Priest goalkeeper Glenn Mbimba, who was called into action again to keep out a direct free-kick from Sébastien Flochon.
Monaco eventually broke the deadlock through Eric Dier, who converted from close range in the 32nd minute, before Golovin doubled the lead just two minutes later with a superb direct free-kick, sending the sides in 2-0 up at half-time.
Luís made wholesale changes at the break, introducing new arrivals Sadibou Sané and Aymen Assab. It was 19-year-old forward Paris Brunner, however, who stole the show after the restart, scoring twice within the space of a minute, first finishing a one-on-one chance in the 47th minute, then curling a brilliant strike into the far corner just a minute later to make it 4-0. Saint-Priest pulled a goal back through Ilias Bardet in the 56th minute, before Monaco restored their four-goal cushion soon after when a cross from Oumar Konaté forced Steven Séance into an own goal. Saint-Priest had the final word with a second goal from Tieri Godame in the 78th minute, but Monaco held on comfortably to seal a 5-2 win.
Speaking after the match, Luís described the game as a useful test, saying friendlies help identify areas the team needs to work on and correct going forward. He added that his squad’s physical condition was continuing to improve heading into the second week of pre-season training, noting that playing minutes, rather than training alone, allow players to rediscover their match rhythm following the off-season.
Monaco’s preparations continue next Saturday with a friendly against Sporting Portugal, following a further week of training.
Image courtesy of Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali