The Monegasque players can congratulate themselves and especially thank Aurélien Tchouameni, the man of the match, author of a double on two magnificent strikes outside the area. For Monaco, it’s the rollercoaster.
Still in crisis before facing PSG on March 20 with a trio of Oleg Petrov (vice-president), Paul Mitchell (sports director) and Philippe Clement (coach) who was then in the hot seat for next season, the Monegasques come to chain 8 victories. With this new success in Lille, they temporarily take 2nd place by putting pressure on OM, 3rd (tied but with a worse goal average) and Rennes, 4th (three points away) who will play on Sunday (in Lorient) and Wednesday (in Nantes).
In the stands of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, the atmosphere was roomy. Dissatisfied with the season of the French Championship in title which is too far from the European qualifying places, its supporters, some of whom wore summer outfits, made it known. A banner “You are on vacation, so are we! to set the tone, then “Olé, Olé” on the first balls touched by the Monegasques.
Best winning streak since 2017
Despite a deserving start, it was not the first period achieved by the players of Jocelyn Gourvennec, also very contested, who reconciled them with their public. Lille returned to the locker room under a big bronca. Strong and efficient, Monaco managed the essentials, on a shot from 20 meters from Aurélien Tchouameni (0-1, 41st). The French international, a strong man in the middle of Monaco, scored his second goal of the season in L1.
If Lille equalized through Angel Gomez (1-1, 69th), it was without counting on the phenomenal Tchouameni, Monaco’s handyman who recovers the balls, directs the game, projects forward and now scores …. After his left shot on his first goal, the 22-year-old midfielder fired a right shot from 25 meters (1-2, 75′).
The French international, a strongman in the middle of Monaco, scored his 2nd and 3rd goals of the season in L1. Already very high, the rating of Tchouameni, under contract until 2024 and who had been bought for 18 million euros in Bordeaux in January 2019, has undoubtedly climbed further with this new XXL performance.
Monaco had not achieved such a series since 2017, the season of its title. It is also the best currently in all the major European championships. ASM is flying towards qualification for the Champions League which seemed unlikely a month and a half ago with nine points behind on the podium on the evening of the 28th day. .