St Etienne 2-0 AS Monaco: Wahbi Khazri double condemns Leonardo Jardim's men to fourth Ligue 1 defeat
Friday 28 September 2018 23:08, UK
Monaco slumped to their sixth defeat in all competitions this season as they lost 2-0 at St Etienne, a worrying setback just days before they face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Monaco, runners-up in Ligue 1 to Paris Saint-Germain last season, remain third from bottom of the table with just one victory - achieved on the opening day of the campaign - to their name.
Friday's loss was Monaco's second defeat of the week after they went down 1-0 to Angers on Tuesday.
That embarrassment prompted under-fire coach Leonardo Jardim to make seven changes to his starting line-up but the radical surgery had little effect; Radamel Falcao wasted a handful of chances before St Etienne took a grip on the game.
Tunisian midfielder Wahbi Khazri opened the scoring four minutes before half-time when he latched onto a cross from Norwegian team-mate Ole Selnaes to beat Monaco goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.
Khazri added a second in the 54th minute for his 40th career goal in Ligue 1 and his fourth of the season.
"Defensively, we made mistakes for which we paid dearly, especially on Khazri's first goal," admitted Jardim.
"We need to pay more attention to these type of situations. In principle, if we have six chances then we must score two or three goals but our players lack confidence."
St Etienne are now second in the table, six points behind PSG who have a perfect seven wins in seven games.
