Monaco clinch pivotal win over Marseille in Ligue 1 to move into European spots

[p]Despite Usain Bolt taking to the pitch just before kick-off, the game started at a snail’s pace, though [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/akliouche-maghnes/0UP6MLGJ/"]Maghnes Akliouche[/a] went close to opening the scoring with an acrobatic effort.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hradecky-lukas/nRZtaBXj/"]Lukas Hradecky[/a] then made himself big to deny an enterprising [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/traore-hamed/Sr1MZT2U/"]Hamed Traorè[/a] from a tight angle, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rulli-geronimo/rcbM0Dd8/"]Gerónimo Rulli[/a] had to rush out to prevent Akliouche from turning [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kehrer-thilo/UXQPdpOB/"]Thilo Kehrer[/a]’s long ball into the opener.[/p][p]Another save from Hradecky to stop [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/paixao-igor/EuBBEVVq/"]Igor Paixao[/a] one-on-one kept things level at the break, which allowed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/monaco/2PIvr8o4/"]Monaco[/a] to regroup and go into the second half as an improved side. [/p][image alt="Match stats" id="1c7c1fa8-db75-44b2-9527-5bd8d5357921" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="b9cd058c-af58-4196-820d-82699afd7c73" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]They started to pressure the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/marseille/SblU3Hee/"]Marseille[/a] goal, and got their reward just before the hour mark when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/teze-jordan/Sbk0VFPJ/"]Jordan Teze[/a] lifted a delivery into the area for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/golovin-aleksandr/WSP08bVp/"]Aleksandr Golovin[/a] to rise and poke into the top corner on the volley.[/b][/p][p]Marseille were determined to respond to that, and were led by their skipper, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hojbjerg-pierre-emile/ITwS8wMo/"]Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg[/a], whose powerful shot was batted away by Hradecky.[/p][p]Monaco continued to protect their lead by playing on the counter and relied on their goalkeeper once more when he stopped [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/timber-quinten/Ag97KtSd/"]Quinten Timber's[/a] long-range strike, but that strategy soon paid dividends thanks to a moment of excellence.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pavard-benjamin/xxuEya3O/"]Benjamin Pavard[/a] accidentally sliced his clearance to play through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/balgun-folarin/rVZLmUsU/"]Folarin Balogun[/a], who audaciously lifted over Rulli and inside the far post from an acute angle, making him the first Monaco player to score in six straight league matches since 2019.[/b][/p][embed guid="6d57c12c-d404-4161-ac2d-a6c329797212" url="https://x.com/Ligue1_ENG/status/2040891018078224813" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]The visitors did get one back with five minutes to go when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gouiri-amine/K0zFVdU8/"]Amine Gouiri[/a] powered through challenges in the area and fired under Hradecky, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Marseille from slumping to back-to-back league defeats for the first time this season. [/b][/p][p]Conversely, Monaco’s seventh successive victory means they join tonight’s opponents on 49 points, just one away from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lille/pfDZL71o/"]Lille[/a] in the third and final automatic UEFA Champions League qualification spot.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hradecky-lukas/nRZtaBXj/"]Lukas Hradecky[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/monaco/2PIvr8o4/"]AS Monaco[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/marseille-SblU3Hee/monaco-2PIvr8o4/summary/stats/?mid=h0ScCW3t"]Check out all the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]