Francesco Guidolin's Monaco won their first points in UEFA Cup Group A thanks to a superb 2-0 triumph over German high-flyers Hamburg.

The principality club were humiliated in their last European outing – a 1-0 loss to Norwegian minnows Viking – but they bounced back in style to subject the visitors to their only reverse this season after 27 matches in all competitions.

And there could be no arguments with the result after Olivier Sorlin and Jaroslav Plasil set the tone early on with off-target efforts on Stefan Wächter's goal. True, most of the action took place in midfield, but Monaco always looked the most likely to score and did just that when Camel Meriem teed up Emmanuel Adebayor a minute from the interval.

The Togo striker rifled the ball home for his third goal in the competition and he almost snatched his fourth after the restart with a shot deflected wide by a Hamburg defender. Rafael van der Vaart then grazed a post at the other end, yet the visitors began to fade as fatigue took over and it was no surprise when young substitute Olivier Veigneau doubled the lead in stoppage-time after collecting Adebayor's pass.

Just before that, Khalid Boulahrouz saw red for holding back Gaël Givet to further spoil Hamburg's night, but they remain top of the group with six points. Monaco lie fourth with three points and must confirm their return to form away to Slavia Prague next week.

Monaco: Warmuz; Cubilier, Evra, Givet (Cap.), Modesto; Bernardi, Meriem (Veigneau 90'), Plasil (Maurice-Belay 58'), Sorlin, Zikos, Adebayor

Hamburg: Wächter; Boulahrouz, Klingbeil, Van Buyten (Cap.), Wicky (Ziegler 59'); Barbarez, Jarolim, Trochowski (Lauth 71'); Van der Vaart, Demel (Mahdavikia 45'), Mpenza

Ref: R. Rossetti (Italy)