Eliesse Ben Seghir: “We are fighting every week to achieve our goal”
He blew the match open! After a long time without success against the Alsatians who were very compact in defense, the Rouge et Blanc ended up obtaining a patient win in Strasbourg (0-1), thanks to a goal by Eliesse Ben Seghir. Very happy to have helped his teammates pick up three points, the Monégasque Number 7expressed his joy to the media, alongside Folarin Balogun. Extraits 🎙️
Hello Eliesse. How did you manage to turn this match around?
We work a lot every day in training to be able to improve in certain areas, particularly defensively. Today we kept a second clean sheet in a row, so it proves that our efforts are paying off and that we are progressing day by day.
Your appearance, along with Maghnes Akliouche made the difference in the second half…
The coach wanted more mobility and to find more creativity to be able to score this goal which would let us win. This is what we managed to bring. With Maghnes we said to ourselves that we had to change the situation, be creative once again and move to provide more solutions to change the scenario of the match.
Premier but cette saison pour Eliesse ❤️🤍
0️⃣-1⃣ #RCSAASM pic.twitter.com/JJlCzUOHr7
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) March 10, 2024
What is your view of this Strasbourg team?
It was a great team that we faced, very brave and one who knew how to battle on the pitch. They were looking for points, just like us, to fulfill the objective of staying up. We ultimately had to find the key pass that would allow us to get into a good position in the area. Then it was enough to score!
Has the team learned from previous matches against poorly ranked sides?
I think so. We must not forget that we are a very young squad, led by certain key players. We are learning little by little, even if we will always make mistakes. In any case, we work on all aspects of things in training to try to progress and give the best of ourselves to be as efficient as possible in matches.
Kassoum Ouattara à propos de l’importance du match face à Strasbourg 🎙️
🔜 #RCSAASM pic.twitter.com/W2yhZpSjwM
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) March 8, 2024
Is this goal a liberation for you after a few physical problems?
It’s true that the start of the season was very tough for me, with my two injuries. It’s never easy to watch your teammates’ matches without being able to help them. But I think this goal will do me good for my confidence. Today it allows us to gain three more points to achieve our objectives. This can only do us good!
Especially since you are back in 3rd place in the table…
This is the very good news of the day! We followed the results of the other teams, and there was something good to be done this weekend. This is what we did by going for this victory. We are lucky to have a Ligue 1 with very good teams, which allows us to have great results. We will therefore fight every week to achieve our goal.
Deuxième clean-sheet de suite, on continue ⚔️
0️⃣-1⃣ #RCSAASM pic.twitter.com/ZUYs1Tjmi4
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) March 10, 2024
Do you feel like you are gaining strength?
It feels good to play a few minutes at each match. It hasn’t always been easy since returning from injury, but now I’m gaining playing time and confidence. This goal is what I needed (smile)!
Eliesse a un message pour vous ❤️🤍
0️⃣-1⃣ #RCSAASM pic.twitter.com/woW1DFqpO1
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) March 10, 2024
Tell us about this action…
I saw Maghnes on the overlap, and it’s true that we have a lot of good connections, we feel quite good together. At that moment I know where to position myself so that he could gives me the ball. I looked, he passed me, and I just had to finish! I knew straight away where I was going to put it, because I had already taken an option.
Folarin Balogun’s reaction
Hello Folarin. You caused a lot of problems for the Strasbourg defense…
We knew it would be a difficult match, in a very lively atmosphere, and that it would not be easy to come away with three points. It was indeed challenging, but we stuck together until the end and we managed to score this goal which gave us victory. So everyone is happy!
What was the initial plan, facing a very low block?
We prepared this week to deal with this. Personally I tried to cause problems for the opposing defenders, to position myself between the lines, even if Strasbourg were playing quite low. In the end it was a positive match, I tried to help the team with my movement. This success does us good.
The battle at the top of the table is getting ever closer…
The Club’s objective is clear, it is to be in the Top 4 at the end of the season. It’s been the same goal since the start of the season, and now we are only nine games away from achieving it. We will have to take the matches one by one from now on. The top of the table is indeed very tight, which is why we must stay focused on ourselves.
