Monaco thrash Nancy to stay on trail of leaders

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:53 am

Monaco halved Nice's lead at the top of Ligue 1 to three points thanks to an emphatic 6-0 win against Nancy at the Stade Louis II.

Radamel Falcao scored a brace, to add to his Champions League double in midweek, to put Leonardo Jardim's team in a comfortable lead which was added to by Kylian Mbappe, before two late goals from Guido Carrillo and one from Fabinho.

Both sides had early opportunities, with Valere Germain seeing a close-range effort countered while while Issiar Dia teed up Christophe Mandanne on the counter, but the former Guingamp striker failed to test Danijel Subasic from a promising position.

Then, on 25 minutes, Thomas Lemar saw his corner eventually pushed onto the bar before Falcao headed home from close range to hand Monaco a lead.

And, shortly after, Diallo Guidileye clumsily brought down Fabinho inisde the area before Falcao confidently slotted home from the penalty spot to double the hosts' advantage.

Falcao did have the ball in the net for third time, before the interval, but Germain was ruled offside to deny the Colombian a first-half hat trick.

Monaco's dominance continued after the break and Mbappe added a third goal midway through the second half when Nancy failed to clear Benjamin Mendy's cross, allowing the 17-year-old to prod home from close range.

Mendy's good work set up a fourth Monaco goal as an unmarked Carrillo headed home from close range before Fabinho added a fifth from the penalty spot, converting after skipper Clement Lenglet brought down Corentin Jean.

And in added time Carrillo wrapped up a very successful evening for the principality side, volleying home from close range after some clever work from Mbappe on the left presented the opportunity.