In their return to Ligue 1 action following the winter break, Monaco were hoping to restore their winning record at home after a loss to Olympique Lyonnais in their last game at the Stade Louis II.
They were coming up against a Reims side who needed the time off during the new year following three losses on the bounce as Will Still was hoping to get his side’s pursuit for European football back on track.
It was the home side who dominated the early parts of the first half though, with almost two-thirds of possession and the better chances.
Yehvann Diouf in the Reims goal did well to get down low to save a Kassoum Outtara header, and then the French goalkeeper was on hand to deny Wissam Ben Yedder midway through the half too.
Despite Monaco being on top for the majority of the first period, they went into the HT break 1-0 down as Teddy Teuma played a brilliant one-two with Mohamed Daramy, and on receiving the ball back, Teuma produced a sublime first-time finish from the edge of the box.
Adi Hütter would have been disappointed to see his team losing at the break despite dominating large parts of the first half, but whatever he said during the interval seemed to have an immediate impact as Monaco drew level within five minutes of the restart.
Aleksandr Golovin collected a pass inside the box and released a shot on goal that looked to be heading wide but instead was nodded in by Ben Yedder for his ninth league goal of the campaign.
However, within five minutes, Reims restored their lead through a brilliant individual goal. Reda Khadra received the ball near the halfway line, flicking it around an opposing defender before racing through on goal and firing past Philipp Köhn.
After falling behind for the second time of the evening, Monaco struggled to mount a comeback this time around, with the away side looking the more likely to net again as Khadra almost bagged a brace with another individual effort, only for Köhn to deny the German.
As Monaco pushed for an equaliser late on, they left themselves vulnerable at the back and Reims made them pay, adding a third goal in stoppage time through Azor Matusiwa.
Reims’ brilliant defensive performance after restoring their lead ultimately secured all three points, seeing them move up into fifth place and cutting the gap to their opponents in third place to four points.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Reda Khadra (Stade de Reims)
