Carlos Vinicius makes his full debut and rewards Monaco with three points against Lille

Carlos Vinicius who made his full debut against Lille scored his first Monaco goal and the match winner in the 90th minute of the game to keep the French side’s survival hopes alive.

The win moves Monaco a point off FC Nantes in 15th while the three points gained make it 15 points in eight games for Leonardo Jardim since he has returned as manager. They also moved seven points away from Dijon in 18th, strengthen their chances of Ligue 1 survival.

The first chance of the game came in the seventh minute as Portuguese winger Rony Lopes forced Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan into a comfortable save early on.

Though the first effort would be the closest the away side came for some time as they had to endure a whole host of nail-biting moments including winger Jonathan Bamba hitting the crossbar ten minutes into the game.

Maignan in the Lille net had to be very careful six minutes later as a deflection off of captain Jose Fonte meant that Gelson Martins shot fell straight at the feet of the French keeper but had the touch been more solid then it could have been a whole different story.

VAR had to be used in the 36th minute as Monaco striker Vinicius was fouled millimetres away from the penalty area. In the end, a free-kick was given and it never challenged the home side.

Controversy in the later stages of the first half saw Jemerson stay on the pitch, the centre-back was booked in the 6th minute but fouled Lille winger Nicolas Pepe in the box, usually, a penalty is given but referee Hakim Ben El Hadj gave a corner and decided against booking him.

Had Jemerson been booked it would have been his second red card in four games, the Brazilian had only just returned from his three-game suspension after playing Montpellier.

Two late chances in the first half almost gave the hosts the lead as Bamba volleyed the ball over before club top scorer Pepe forced Monaco keeper Danijel Subasic into a fingertip save.

Coming out in the second half Jardim’s side came out the better of the two and three minutes after coming out for the second 45, they created the first chance of the second half.

This chance came as Russian midfielder Aleksandr Golovin made Maignan make a comfortable save as the keeper looked to keep his 12th clean sheet of the Ligue season, moments later Martins had the keeper stretching really far down to deny the Portugues winger.

Rafael Leão’s effort in the 59th minute symbolised a lot of Lille’s problems, they were having plenty of chances but not challenging Subasic. The striker could have squared the ball to a teammate and got a much different result.

With twenty minutes to go it was goal-less despite a combined total of 18 shots between the two, the away side Monaco were testing Maignan more as the keeper had to make seven saves up to this point.

Luiz Araujo made an impact on the game but it wasn’t the impact that manager Christophe Galtier expected when he brought the substitute on as the Brazilian wasted a number of chances for the hosts.

Jonathan Ikoné should have put Lille one goal up in the 85th minute as Araujo cross was dangerous however Ikone fluffed his touch and in the end, meant that the chance ended the way so many had on the night for the hosts.

They would rue all those missed chances as Monaco striker Vinicius managed to win the match in the 90th minute with his first goal since arriving in January from Napoli, Jean Eudes Aholou clipped the ball into the box before the Brazilian chested it down and beat Maignan in the Lille net.

Teams:

Lille – Mike Maignan, Mehmet Zeki Celik, José Fonte (c), Gabriel Magalhães, Youssouf Kone, Xeka, Thiago Mendes (OFF 87′), Nicolas Pepe, Jonathan Ikoné, Jonathan Bamba (OFF 71′), Rafael Leão (OFF 74′)

Subs- Rui Fonte (ON 74′), Luiz Araujo (ON 71′), Thiago Maia (ON 87′)

Unused subs- Adama Soumaoro, Boubakary Soumare, Reinildo Mandava, Kouakou Herve Koffi

Yellow Cards- Luiz Araujo – 86′, José Fonte – 89′ and Rui Fonte – 90+4′

Monaco- Danijel Subasic, Djibril Sidibe, Jemerson (YC 6’), Kamil Glik (c), Fode Toure, Adrien Silva, Jean-Eudes Aholou, Gelson Martins, Aleksandr Golovin (OFF 79′), Rony Lopes (OFF 90+2′), Carlos Vinicius

Subs- William Vainqueur (ON 79′), Nacer Chadli (ON 90+2′)

Unused subs- Diego Benaglio, Naldo, Moussa Sylla, Benjamin Henrichs, Lyle Foster

Yellow Cards – Jemerson 6′ and Djibril Sidibe – 82′