The match: 2-2 ap
Ruben Aguilar held his head for a long time, stunned after noticing that he had just deceived Alexander Nübel, his own goalkeeper. Entered in the 98th minute to replace the injured Djibril Sidibé, the defender countered the center of Mykhaïlo Moudryk and lobbed the German goalkeeper in the 114th minute of a meeting that his team dominated.
Despite Maripan’s encouragement to try everything to score in the final minutes of extra time, the Monegasques left the Champions League before the group stage by conceding a draw (2-2) while he led 2-0 to twenty minutes from the end of regular time.
The men of Niko Kovac, victim of a terrible stroke of fate, yet delivered a valiant match. And with a bit of success and efficiency, they would have joined Lille and PSG in the next round of C1.
From the outset, the AS Monaco players exerted a lot of pressure which allowed them to gain the upper hand over their opponents. Tchouaméni (3rd), Badiashile, (4th), Caio Henrique (16th) or Sidibé (16th) took their chance before the opening scoring of Ben Yedder who took advantage of a strike from Volland pushed back to his feet by Piatov , the Chakhtior goalkeeper, to score his first goal of the season (see elsewhere).
The Monegasques, who controlled the first half, continued to push. Badiashile found the post on a free kick from Golovine (38th) but the Principality’s players did not even have time to regret since, a minute later, Ben Yedder signed a brace on a cross from Caio Henrique (39th, 2-0).
We said to ourselves that Kovac’s men had done the most difficult despite the big opportunity missed by Ben Yedder, who did not frame his dive, in added time of the first period (45th + 1).
After twenty complicated first minutes at the start of the second half, the Monegasques regained control. Ben Yedder spoiled another 3-0 (65th) ball and ASM experienced a jump in concentration that allowed Marlos to close the gap (1-2, 74th).
In an unbreathable end of the game, Diop saw his attempt hijacked by Piatov (82nd) and Volland had three big chances to score (87th, 90th, 90th + 3). Pushed into extra time, Monaco ended up giving in the most cruel way with this center blocked by Aguilar.
Eliminated from the Champions League after a “Big fight” (Volland), ASM will play in the group stage of C3.
The player: Ben Yedder was not enough
He was almost the hero of the evening, but ultimately his double did not allow his team to pass the cut. After six matches played this season, Wissam Ben Yedder had still not scored before this return jump of the C1 on the lawn of the Chakhtior. The Monegasque captain therefore chose an essential moment to wake up registering these two goals (18th, 39th) which seemed to have put Monaco on the right track. The French international could even have scored two more, but he did not frame his dive before the break (45th + 1) and he lost his duel with Piatov (65th). He was replaced in the 76th by Isidor a few minutes after receiving a kick to the head from Marlon (70th) and helplessly witnessed the elimination of his team.
25
AS Monaco attempted 25 shots this Wednesday evening on the lawn of Chakhtior Donetsk. Kovac’s men only framed 7 of their attempts. Opposite, the Ukrainian team shot 9 times and framed twice.
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