PARIS: Teen prodigy Kylian Mbappe scored his 10th league goal of the campaign as Monaco beat Bordeaux 2-1 on Saturday to cement their place at the top of Ligue 1. Mbappe opened the scoring midway through the second half at the Stade Louis II and a beauty from Joao Moutinho soon after doubled the principality side’s lead. They held on to take all three points after a howler from goalkeeper Danijel Subasic allowed Diego Rolan in to reduce the arrears. Monaco, who will look to overturn a 5-3 first-leg deficit when they host Manchester City in their Champions League last-16 return on Wednesday, are five points clear of local rivals Nice at the top of the table with nine games left.
However, Paris Saint-Germain can go back up to second and cut Monaco’s lead back to three points with a win at bottom club Lorient on Sunday in their first outing since their Champions League humiliation in Barcelona.
“Now that we are nine matches from the end of the season teams have analysed us and come here with a more defensive strategy,” said Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim, whose side remain the top scorers in Europe’s top five leagues.
“That is not a criticism. Against teams who only come out on the counter-attack, you need to find a way of scoring without giving them the chance to break. In that way it was a great performance.”
On the prospect of trying to turn things around against City, Jardim admitted he has to take recent defensive struggles into consideration. “We are top of the league, in the League Cup final, in the French Cup quarter-finals, everyone is in good condition mentally,” said the Portuguese. “It will be a difficult match. One thing is for sure, the way we are playing just now we will have to score three times to qualify. Two won’t be enough.” — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
