PLAYER RATINGS | Monaco 1-1 Le Havre: Youssouf Fofana own goal sees Monaco held at home | OneFootball

Ligue 1 Uber Eats, Round 20, 04/02/2023

AS Monaco remain winless in Ligue 1 in 2024 after failing to get the better of a well-organised Le Havre AC side, who take a point thanks to Youssouf Fofana’s own goal, which cancelled out Wissam Ben Yedder’s opener just two minutes prior.

In front of the onlooking Dmitry Rybolovlev, who is exploring the option of selling his share in the club, Monaco looked ponderous and slow in possession throughout the first, failing to work a well-organised Le Havre out of shape. Maghnes Akliouche had Monaco’s best chance of the first half, drawing a good save from Arthur Desmas, whilst at the other end Philipp Köhn was worked into a save with Josué Casimir’s corner almost sneaking in at the near post.

In the second half, Monaco immediately showed more intensity and it quickly bore fruit with the clinical Ben Yedder finishing after some good work from Krépin Diatta and Aleksandr Golovin to win the ball back. Maghnes Akliouche then slipped it into the path of Ben Yedder, who scored in his sixth-consecutive match for Les Monégasques.

However, that lead was very short-lived. The advantage was ceded after Fofana turned an inswinging Christopher Opéri free-kick into his own net. Le Havre were happy to leave with a point and continued to defend diligently, forcing Monaco to play the ball sideward and backwards. Neither side truly did enough to merit the victory and the draw was a fair result. Monaco are yet to win in 2024 in the league. Le Havre are unbeaten in the league since 20th December and keep themselves out of the relegation conversation.

Monaco player ratings

Philipp Köhn – 5

Thilo Kehrer – 6

This was Kehrer’s most convincing performance since completing his loan move from West Ham United. He couldn’t have done much better with his snapshot chance in the second half, and defensively, he was composed and error-free, making a notable crucial recovery in the second half as well as five interceptions.

Mohammed Salisu – 5

Soungoutou Magassa – 5

Ismail Jakobs – 4

Youssouf Fofana – 3

A sloppy performance from the France international, who missed five out of his six long passes and had a meagre successful pass percentage relative to his standards (74%). His touch for Le Havre’s equaliser was unnecessary, especially since there wasn’t a Le Havre player in between himself and Köhn, who had looked to have given his teammate the shout to leave it. A game to forget.

Aleksandr Golovin – 5

Vanderson – 4

Eliesse Ben Seghir – 4

Maghnes Akliouche – 4

Wissam Ben Yedder – 6

Whilst AS Monaco may be planning for their future without Ben Yedder, there is no doubt that he is – in the present – crucial to this side. In the absence of Folarin Balogun, he was the only experienced recognised striker in the squad, and he took his goal clinically. He has no scored in each of his last six games for the Principality club. The Frenchman often got to the byline and could have had an assist on another day.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle