Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Matchday 21, 08/02/26

OGC Nice and AS Monaco saw out a tepid draw, low on quality in the Côte d’Azur derby on Sunday afternoon (0-0). 

The Match

Monaco would have been disappointed to have not taken the lead in the third minute when Folarin Balogun struck the bar with his close-range volley. But they were equally relieved to not fall behind moments later when Benoit Bastien blew for a penalty for a Thilo Kehrer handball, only for the decision to be overturned on review.

Those two incidents came within the first four minutes and they were the most notable events of a relatively tepid 45 minutes between these two local rivals. Balogun forced a save from Maxime Dupé and Sofiane Diop struck wide from a good position, but neither side did enough to prevent deadlock at the break. 

Aleksandr Golovin almost did that upon the return from the dressing rooms, drawing an excellent save from Dupé, low to his right. 

Philipp Kohn wasn’t worked, apart from when he put himself in danger, making a poor clearance straight to the feet of Sofiane Diop, whose shot was saved by Thilo Kehrer on the line. The return fixture ended in a stalemate (2-2) and neither side looked capable of taking all three points here either.

And so it proved, with neither side scoring. It ended all level, just as it did at the return fixture earlier in the season.

OGC Nice player ratings

Maxime Dupé – 7

Unlike Kohn at the other end, Dupé was tested but was equal to two good efforts, the first a driven shot by Balogun, the second a volley from Golovin. It was a bold move for Claude Puel to opt for Dupé over Yehvann Diouf, but he justified that choice on Sunday.

Ali Abdi – 4

Dante – 5

Kojo Peprah Oppong – 4

Jonathan Clauss – 5

Gabin Bernardeau – 6

Charles Vanhoutte – 4

Morgan Sanson – 5

Sofiane Diop – 5

Elye Wahi – 5

Tom Louchet – 5

Monaco player ratings 

Philipp Kohn – 3

The Swiss goalkeeper was not truly tested but did dig himself a hole that he needed Keher to help him out of when he made a rash decision to make a rushed clearance, straight to Diop, who was almost decisive once again, as he was in the return fixture. Far from convincing. 

Thilo Kehrer – 6

Denis Zakaria – 5

Jordan Teze – 4

Simon Adingra – 5

Aladji Bamba – 6

Lamine Camara – 6

Krépin Diatta – 3

His performances at the AFCON were eye-catching and certainly bolstered his reputation but this was a performance full of decision-making errors and technical insufficiency. He didn’t pose any attacking threat, even if he was not susceptible to any defensive mishaps.

Aleksandr Golovin – 4

Folarin Balogun – 5

Maghnes Akliouche – 3

Akliouche is clearly struggling at the moment and his performances of late have flitted between middling and unsatisfactory. This one fitted into the latter category. Between poor decision-making and poor execution, he was a hindrance rather than a help to his team.