The Monégasques suffered an early blow, as Ruben Aguilar went off injured after 11 minutes having waited three matches for a return to the starting lineup. Reims goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf’s last Ligue 1 start came in November 2020, but he quickly announced himself on this occasion. Having made the save when Emmanuel Agbadou’s clearance bounced off Aleksandr Golovin and towards goal, the 23-year-old then produced a brilliant double-stop to deny Breel Embolo and Wissam Ben Yedder.
In the 22nd minute, Reims were reduced to 10 men for the fifth time this season when Bradley Locko caught Embolo with his studs when trying to play the ball forward. While the Stade Auguste-Delaune was filled with the frustration felt most by Óscar García, who was booked having only just returned from a suspension, Reims were defiant and Marshall Munetsi hit a venomous strike that forced Alexander Nübel to get down quickly. Referee Marc Bollengier had brandished four more yellow cards by the end of a fiery first half.
Having done well to hold Monaco before HT, Reims were opened up inside two minutes of the restart when Axel Disasi superbly picked out Golovin with a cross that was headed home for the midfielder’s first goal of the season. The hosts were under serious pressure but Diouf palmed away Mohamed Camara’s dipping shot well. Reims kept fighting and Folarin Balogun thought he’d equalised with a rebound header before his celebrations were cut short by the offside flag. Junya Ito then did brilliantly to tee up Andreaw Gravillon with a quarter-hour left, but the midfielder was unable to find the target.
Takumi Minamino took the game away from the hosts though, latching onto Embolo’s through ball and finishing clinically for his first goal in French football. Ben Yedder then added his own first league goal of the season as the Monégasques recorded their third consecutive Ligue 1 win. Meanwhile, Reims suffered back-to-back defeats for the second time this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Axel Disasi (AS Monaco)
