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Monaco overwhelm Saint-Etienne to boost Ligue 1 title hopes
PARIS, March 20, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Monaco rebooted their title hopes, moving
to within four points of Ligue 1 leaders Lille after a 4-0 win at Saint-
Etienne on Friday.
Stevan Jovetic’s first-half strike was followed by second-half goals from
Aurelien Tchouameni, Sofiane Diop and Krepin Diatta which closed out a
comfortable win for Niko Kovac’s men who had taken just a point from their
last two league outings.
Monaco remain fourth in the table, just one point behind second-placed
Paris Saint-Germain and third-placed Lyon who meet on Sunday.
“We have to continue like this. We have to secure fourth place. The
standings are clear,” said Monaco coach Kovac.
“We are back to one point from Lyon and PSG but I don’t want to look beyond
that. But it will be difficult to pass Lyon, Paris and Lille which are very
strong teams.”
The result is another blow to Saint-Etienne who are down in 16th, six
points clear of the relegation play-off place.
Montenegrin striker Jovetic caused problems from the start, hitting the
crossbar before getting the opportunity to open the scoring from the penalty
spot on 12 minutes.
His strike, however, again came back off the woodwork, this time the left
post.
A minute later, however, he collected a pass from Tchouameni, feinted past
the goalkeeper and slipped the ball in for the opener.
Monaco dominated the rest of the half but failed to add any more goals.
The pressure told, though, in the second half as Tchouameni added a second
in the 54th minute.
Diop extended the lead with his seventh goal of the season in the 63rd
minute before Diatta closed out the win 12 minutes later.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0830 hrs