Bordeaux 0 Monaco 2: No Falcao, no problem as Lemar breaks drought

The absence of Radamel Falcao did not prevent Monaco from recording a second consecutive Ligue 1 victory, as goals from Keita Balde and Thomas Lemar secured a 2-0 win at Bordeaux on Saturday.

Falcao is the league’s leading scorer with 13 goals from nine matches this season, but the Colombia international sat out the match at Stade Matmut-Atlantique due to a thigh strain.

In his absence, Balde and Lemar netted twice in quick succession early in the second half as title-holders Monaco stayed second, still four points behind Paris Saint-Germain, who dispatched Nice 3-0 on Friday. 

The away team created the first clear chance of the game, with Bordeaux goalkeeper Benoit Costil called into action to parry away a fierce Fabinho effort from Jorge’s cutback. 

It took until the half-hour mark for Monaco to threaten again, Kamil Glik getting to Joao Moutinho’s free-kick first but seeing his header saved by Costil.

Bordeaux were restricted to sporadic counter-attacks, Monaco defender Jemerson clearing confidently from Francois Kamano’s dangerous ball across the face of goal with a minute remaining in the opening period. 

Leonardo Jardim’s men eventually broke the deadlock in the 57th minute, when Jorge was fortunate to avoid giving away a foul before swinging a cross into the area from the left flank. 

Moutinho’s cushioned header fell perfectly into the path of Balde, who took the ball under control quickly and steered a tidy, low finish past the onrushing Costil. 

Lemar doubled the advantage eight minutes later, receiving the ball from Glik before cutting in the from left, beating the Bordeaux defence with ease and firing the ball beyond Costil, who should have done better, for his first strike of the league season. 

Alexandre Mendy twice went close to pulling one back for Bordeaux, the substitute firing wide of the near post from a tight angle before seeing a header cleared off the line by Jemerson.

Monaco substitute Stevan Jovetic could have made it 3-0 soon after, with his curling effort from the top of the box sneaking just wide of the upright.

VICTOIRRRREEEEE !!! Grosse performance collective des Rouge et Blanc

57′ @keitabalde14
65′ Lemar pic.twitter.com/CsweVjGrLP

— AS Monaco (@AS_Monaco) October 28, 2017