Club Brugge hammers Monaco 4-1 in Champions League
BRUGES, Belgium – Club Brugge smashed Monaco 4-1 at home on Tuesday night in their Champions League opener, putting three goals past the French side in a crazy first half that basically killed off the game.
The Belgians got off to a nervy start when Monaco was handed a penalty after just eight minutes. Takumi Minamino played a nice ball through to Mika Biereth who got brought down by keeper Simon Mignolet rushing out. But the veteran stopper saved his blushes by diving to stop Maghnes Akliouche’s spot kick.
Mignolet didn’t last much longer though, getting hurt making a simple save and had to come off. That could of been a problem for Brugge but they actually started playing better after that.
Nicolò Tresoldi got the first goal on 32 minutes, his first ever Champions League goal. Hans Vanaken slipped him through and the Italian striker finished it off nicely. Four minutes later it was 2-0 when Monaco couldn’t clear a corner properly and Raphael Onyedika smashed it home from close range.
Then just before halftime Vanaken made it 3-0 with a brilliant volley from inside the box. Monaco was all over the place defensively and Brugge was completely in control.
The second half was much quieter with Brugge happy to sit back a bit. They got their fourth goal with about 15 minutes left when Mamadou Diakhon scored after a quick counter attack. He fooled the defender with a dummy then buried it.
Monaco did get one back through Ansu Fati near the end but it was way too late and didn’t change anything. Manager Adi Hütter will be worried about his team’s performance, especially with Manchester City coming to visit next.
For Brugge this was exactly the start they wanted. They haven’t lost at home in seven games now and showed they can compete with good teams in Europe. Next up is a trip to Atalanta which won’t be easy but they’ll go there feeling confident after this result.
Monaco has serious problems to sort out after getting torn apart like this. Their defense looked shaky all night and they couldn’t create much going forward either.