.png)
5 hours ago
2
The best that could be said for Spurs’ endeavours was that they did not lose and, if they are to reach the knockout stage, staying afloat in awkward away ties will be a necessary skill. That does not deflect from the fact this must have been a grim watch for Thomas Frank, whose side should have been well beaten by an inventive and ambitious Monaco. They could thank Guglielmo Vicario, who made five vital saves, in large part, and also bore witness to some wasteful home finishing. In attack they barely created a ripple, an intermittent threat fading to virtually nothing.
Tottenham’s task was to make an evening in the reliably weird surroundings of Stade Louis II appear routine. Two gaping corner sections were completely empty and what noise the home ultras could muster drifted into the unseasonably balmly Côte d’Azur air. Nonetheless this venue had warmed up three weeks previously when Manchester City were pegged back at the last and Monaco, under the management of Sébastien Pocognoli, seemed an obvious banana skin.
Eric Dier had scored the leveller from the spot against City but missed this reunion with his former employers owing to a hamstring injury. He had watched from the sidelines earlier in the day when Spurs’ Under-19s beat their local counterparts. Monaco were missing six first-teamers although Tottenham, particularly light in defence, could outdo them with 10 absentees of varying cause and severity.
Monaco understood quickly that there was joy to be found down the visitors’ flanks. They attacked at speed, their wing-backs Kassoum Ouattara and Krepin Diatta eagerly bombing on. In the 10th minute Maghnes Akliouche, their highly rated forward, was denied by a smart block from the stand-in left-back, Archie Gray. Almost immediately Folarin Balogun, the Arsenal youth product who would have revelled in a goal here, forced Vicario to save well from an angle.
Ansu Fati outstripped Pedro Porro and drew Vicario before failing to find a teammate, although any goal would have been subject to a tight offside call. Spurs’ better moments in the opening quarter came from the left-sided probing of Wilson Odobert, who escaped a couple of times and then delivered for Micky van de Ven to flick a header too high.
In a hectic spell before the half-hour Akliouche forced Vicario into scrambling action with a lofted cross-shot before sending Balogun clear with outstanding vision, the keeper standing up and repelling to equally impressive effect. Down the other end Odobert continued to menace, giving Richarlison a clear sight of goal before Mohammed Salisu slid in to intervene.
The match came to resemble a personal duel between Vicario and Balogun. When they faced off for a third time the Italian produced his best stop yet, parrying a swept first-time shot low to his left. Spurs looked vulnerable to quick turnovers of possession, their own spells of pressure yielding few genuine openings. Kevin Danso headed a corner over but by half-time it had been thin gruel.
Five minutes after the restart Akliouche, a bewitching presence on the ball who was monitored by Spurs in pre-season, twisted inside before drawing a low near-post save from Vicario. While Spurs then threatened through an Odobert strike that deflected and looped narrowly over, the resulting overhit corner by Mohammed Kudus was more representative of their attacking endeavours. At least the flickers of intent were growing, Gray marauding forward before Mamadou Coulibaly’s crude intervention. Pedro Porro wasted the free-kick.
after newsletter promotion
Frank sought a spark, swapping Rodrigo Bentancur with Pape Sarr and introducing Xavi Simons in place of the sloppy Lucas Bergvall. Monaco’s tempo had seemingly dropped and the gaps inside Spurs’ territory were smaller. When Akliouche found a route to the byline, João Palhinha was stationed to prevent his centre from reaching a poised Balogun.
But Vicario was not left unoccupied for long, diving to parry a weighted effort from the substitute Aleksandr Golovin and then looking on desperately as Thilo Kehrer planted a header inches wide. Fifteen minutes from time he delivered his best save of the evening, beating away Jordan Teze’s close-range header when Monaco smelled the win their efforts deserved.
Benefiting more than Spurs from a series of attacking changes apiece, Monaco continued to probe. Next a marvellous move resulted in Takumi Minamino, on the stretch but six yards out, volleying over from the game’s clearest opening. The ex-Liverpool player then missed two other chances; Brennan Johnson saw a late shot blocked but an away win would have been outrageous.
