UEFA Conference League, Matchday 2, 22/10/26

AS Monaco’s defeat to FC Lorient (1-0) on Sunday was their first of the season. They quickly returned to winning ways, swatting aside a feeble Freiburg side at the Stade Louis II (3-0).

Chances were at a premium, especially for Freiburg, with Julian Schuster bemoaning his side’s lack of incision. Like Monaco, the Bundesliga side were looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season over the weekend, but they never turned up here. Mamadou Coulibaly and Paris Brunner both had sights of goal and it was the latter who opened the scoring on the stroke of half time.

The Germany youth international, with his back to goal, controlled, flicked the ball up and over his marker, before bearing down on goal and calmly finishing. Post-match, Filipe Luís said that Brunner was “close to becoming one of the best strikers in the world.” His return, after missing the weekend defeat to Les Merlus, was definitely most welcome.

A response from Freiburg wasn’t forthcoming after the break. Though they had more of the ball, they could only use it to add to their corner count (11) but not to the scoreline. They only had two Lukas Kubler snapshots from a goal-mouth scramble to show for their efforts.

More and more Freiburg players committed to the attacking effort, and to no avail. It also gave Monaco more and more space to exploit on the counter and it was used to good effect when Ansu Fati broke through and shot at Mio Backhaus. The Germany youth international was equal to the effort but could only palm it straight at Lamine Camara, who was on hand to score the goal that his performance deserved.

“What. A. Performance. He doesn’t stop surprising me. He is special,” reacted Filipe Luís. “What he did tonight, very few players can do.” A certain gloss was added to the scoreline when Fati curled into the bottom corner in injury time. Schuster said that the scoreline wasn’t reflective but was happy to admit that his side were well beaten on the night.

Monaco return to winning ways and ensure their 100% start to their Conference League campaign. Next up for them is Lille OSC, at the Stade Louis II, on Sunday.