© AS Monaco
AS Monaco began their Centenary season with a commanding 1-0 victory over AS Saint-Étienne at a packed Stade Louis-II, with 14,250 fans in attendance, including club President Dmitri Rybolovlev.
Fresh off their victory against Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy, AS Monaco carried that momentum into their Ligue 1 opener. Coach Adi Hütter surprised many by starting Breel Embolo and Folarin Balogun up front, just as he did against Barça.
Monaco nearly took the lead within the first few minutes, with Balogun threatening the opposition’s goal as early as the fifth minute. Saint-Étienne quickly responded, with Yunis Abdelhamid and Ibrahim Sissoko testing Monaco's goalkeeper, Philipp Köhn, who was up to the challenge.
The match then entered a frantic phase, with both teams having goals disallowed for offside—Takumi Minamino and Sissoko were both denied by VAR. Monaco kept pressing, and Minamino eventually broke the deadlock with a brilliant lob, which was confirmed after a VAR check, giving the home team the lead. Saint-Étienne tried to fight back, but the score remained 1-0 in Monaco’s favor at halftime.
The second half saw a notable effort from Mathieu Cafaro, while Eliesse Ben Seghir thought he had earned a penalty, only for the decision to be overturned by VAR. Monaco continued to push for a second goal but couldn't extend their lead. Another moment of chaos ensued when Saint-Étienne had another goal ruled out by VAR.
Despite the tension and controversies, Monaco held on to secure all three points in their Ligue 1 opener.
The match statistics underline Monaco's dominance: expected goals (1.99 vs. 0.48), total shots (17 vs. 11), shots inside the box (14 vs. 5), big chances created (5 vs. 0), possession (62% vs. 38%), and passes in the opponent's half (237 vs. 68) all confirm that Monaco deserved their victory.
Having started the Ligue 1 season as planned, AS Monaco under Hütter now faces a tough challenge with an away game against Olympique Lyonnais—another significant test to gauge their level.