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French Cup 29 January 2020, 04:23

End of the adventure in the Coupe de France

End of the adventure in the Coupe de France
Beaten 0-1 by Saint-Étienne, the Red and Whites were eliminated from the Coupe de France.

While a strong wind swept across the field, forcing the organization to remove the billboards around the pitch, the match almost started with a stoppage of play, when Aholou made a very strong tackle on Silva in the Monegasque half . Treated on the pitch, then along the sidelines, the red and white captain finally returned to the pitch lawn moments later in a match that was slow to come to life. The first opportunity was for Saint-Étienne, with a cross from Hamouma that Diony could not convert in front of the Monaco goal (8th). Ten minutes later, Fofana nearly beat Ruffier by intervening on a cross by Zagré.

Bouanga on the lookout

AS Monaco tried to make the difference on several consecutive set pieces (17th, 20th, 23rd), but the Stéphanois defense resisted. In the 25th, Debuchy escaped up the right side and crossed for Bouanga who beat Lecomte for the opening score. The Red and Whites tried to react in stride, but Baldé could not get on the end of Jorge’s cross in the 27th minute. Before the break (38th), Ben Yedder found himself in a good position against Ruffier, but the ASSE goalkeeper won their duel and allowed his team to return to the locker room with a slight advantage.

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Possession, not chances

The second period started with a good free kick opportunity for AS Monaco. Ben Yedder went around the wall but his shot went past the goal. Robert Moreno’s men monopolized the ball against a group from Saint-Etienne playing in a low block, but they did not manage to trouble Ruffier. After the hour, Les Verts took advantage of space to put pressure on Lecomte’s goal. Twice Hamouma troubled the AS Monaco ‘keeper without  getting his attempts on target (66th, 68th). An effort from Cabaye was strong in the 79th minute, but Lecomte turned it behind for a corner.

Jovetic comes close to equalizing

In the last ten minutes, AS Monaco increased the pressure by throwing its last substitutes into battle, but Saint-Etienne were still dangerous through Bouanga who escaped the defense on a long ball (83rd). Once again Lecomte intervened and kept his team in the match. Jovetic was close to taking a chance to equalize in the 86th minute, but his shot  whistled past with Ruffier’s left post. It was the last chance of a match finally won by the smallest of margins by ASSE. It’s the end of the adventure in the Coupe de France; the next match is on Saturday in Nîmes for the 22nd matchday of Ligue 1 Conforama.

Rise. Risk. Repeat.