AS Monaco beats Arminia Bielefeld without a hitch

Yahoo

5 days ago

Never really worried defensively and clinical offensively, the Rouge et Blanc secured a third victory of their preseason against Arminia Bielefeld (0-3).
They once again showed their seriousness. Facing Arminia Bielefeld, recently promoted to the German second division, AS Monaco perfectly controlled this match, winning 3-0 at the SchücoArena. Unbeaten after four warm-up matches, the Rouge et Blanc have still not conceded a single goal ahead of the three matches awaiting them this week.. Recap. ✍️
A second goal of preseason for Biereth
At the start of this fourth friendly match, Adi Hütter positioned his team in a 4-4-2 formation, including Soungoutou Magassa's first start this season. Breel Embolo and Mika Biereth led the line in attack. And the latter was again effective in front of goal as it was he who opened the scoring with a shot at the near post to give himself his second goal of preseason (0-1, 24′).
A new eleven at halftime
The Danish striker then came close to doubling the lead shortly afterward, but failed to cut out a good cross from Kassoum Ouattara (26′). The Rouge et Blanc gradually gained the upper hand in the match, and our number 14 soon created another opportunity, but his shot was blocked (35′).
However, the home side were wary of Tim Handwerker's attempt, which narrowly missed Philipp Köhn's post (38′). A goal down at halftime, the Monaco coach took the opportunity to change all his outfield players, including the returns of Christian Mawissa, Vanderson, and Folarin Balogun.
Brunner and Akliouche make the difference
It was a reshuffle that paid off immediately, as after a marvelous team move started by the Monaco goalkeeper, Paris Brunner doubled the lead with a header from Caio Henrique (0-2, 50′). It was only his first goal in La Diagonale jersey! The result was then definitively sealed 11 minutes later by Maghnes Akliouche following a quickly taken free kick (0-3, 61′).
The Principality club's players were imperious in the second half, with Denis Zakaria (71′) and then Folarin Balogun twice (74, 77′) seeing their shots stopped by Jonas Kerksen, while Lucas Michal's shot went just wide (78′). At the other end, Philipp Köhn was reassuring in keeping out a long-range shot (87′).
A third win and a fourth clean sheet
This was the final chance in what was a perfectly controlled match for AS Monaco, who recorded their fourth clean sheet in as many matches, as well as their third win of the preseason. The Rouge et Blanc now face a busy week, starting with two matches against Torino at the Performance Center (Wednesday, 6 p.m., then Thursday at 10:30 a.m.), and a trip to Ajax (next Sunday, 2:30 p.m.). DAGHE MUNEGU!!! 🇲🇨
🗓️ Match details:
Saturday July 26 2025 (15:00) – SchücoArena 🇩🇪
Preseason friendly: Arminia Bielefeld 0-3 AS Monaco
Halftime: 0-1
Goals: Biereth (24′), Brunner (50′), Akliouche (61′) for AS Monaco
Bookings: Young (41′) for Bielefeld ; Magassa (16′), Golovin (23′) for AS Monaco
AS Monaco (First half) : Köhn – Teze, Singo, Kehrer ©, Ouattara – Minamino, Magassa, Camara, Golovin – Embolo, Biereth
AS Monaco (Second half) : Köhn – Vanderson, Dier, Mawissa, C. Henrique – Akliouche, Bamba (Bouabré, 88e), Zakaria, Michal – Brunner, Balogun
Substitutes: Lienard, Majecki, C. Henrique, Dier, Mawissa, Salisu, Vanderson, Akliouche, Bamba, Bouabré, Zakaria, Balogun, Brunner, Michal