|
Crisis-ridden Monaco made light of the week's events and two sendings-off to claim a dramatic 2-1 victory away to Troyes.
Few would have put Troyes down as favourites in this fixture before the season began, but Monaco have looked to be a team in total shock since Didier Deschamps resigned on Monday. And, in truth, they weren't a lot more convincing before the former France captain walked out.
With Jean Petit holding the reins as caretaker Coach and President Michel Pastor urging the players to "prove their hunger", the principality club nonetheless tried to be positive and had the first look at goal through Olivier Kapo after three minutes. The ex-Juventus man promised he wouldn't be "running back" to Italy after the week's events, and he appeared to mean it with a powerful shot from 20 metres out that fizzed narrowly over the bar.
Emmanuel Adebayor and Camel Meriem were in creative mood as well, but there was a tension to the visitors' play and their final touch let them down time and time again. And as much as Troyes were suffering in defence, the newly-promoted team still looked menacing at the other end, with Sébastien Grax in particularly vibrant form against the team that hold his licence.
To add insult to injury, it was l'ESTAC's loan star who opened the scoring from a well-worked free-kick in the 33rd minute. Sébastien Dallet fooled the defence by making to strike the ball, only to pull out at the last second as Grax raced in to fire past a helpless Guillaume Warmuz. It was a cruel blow for Monaco, but they were spared further damage when Branko Boscovic struck the crossbar instants later.
Half-time came as a relief to Petit's men, yet they flirted with disaster again soon after the restart when former PSG man Boskovic collected a pass from Ziad Jaziri and drew an excellent save from Warmuz.
No sooner did Monaco have time to catch their breaths, though, than they found themselves down to 10 men. Eric Cubilier was the man given his marching orders for a second bookable offence after 56 minutes, but instead of destroying the away side's motivation it seemed to spur them into an immediate fight-back.
And, fittingly, the much-maligned Adebayor was their hero as he raced through the middle of Troyes's defence and rifled a low shot past Ronan Le Crom just a minute later. They were even celebrating an incredible second goal 60 seconds after that, only for referee Moulin to rule Kapo's strike out for handball.
Monaco could have no complaints about the decision, but they were fuming soon after when Gerard Lopez became the second player to be sent off after picking up his second yellow card. It was the second time in two games that the principality side would have to finish with nine men, and, with a record of six dismissals in eight games, there must be serious questions about their discipline.
Questions about their mental strength were soon to be answered, however, as centre-back and captain Gaël Givet amazingly picked up a headed pass from Diego Perez and raced towards goal before firing his team in front. It was an insane turn of events, and Monaco made sure there would be no further twists in the tale by putting everyone except Adebayor behind the ball until the final whistle.
Petit is unlikely to be given the job full-time on the basis of one match, but he can be proud to have been involved in such a courageous comeback and Monaco's first victory in five matches. However, one can only wonder if Deschamps would have resigned if the players had demonstrated such resolve when he was in charge.
|
