Cadiou penalty gives Lorient victory and ends Monaco’s unbeaten start

Noah Cadiou’s 61st-minute penalty earned Lorient a 1-0 home win over Monaco on Sunday, ending the visitors’ unbeaten start to the season. Monaco’s official match report confirmed that the decisive goal at the Stade du Moustoir came after a goalless first half in which neither side managed a shot on target.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ud7vW4fw5s

Monaco threatened through Ansu Fati and Matthis Abline before Aleksandr Golovin narrowly missed from distance. Abline then tested Yvon Mvogo with a header shortly after the restart. But Cadiou converted the penalty won by Dembo Sylla, leaving Monaco to chase the match rather than build on their early second-half pressure.

Folarin Balogun came off the bench and had a header saved by Mvogo. Lorient also threatened to increase their advantage: Sylla hit the post before Lukas Hradecky stopped Arsène Kouassi. Balogun sent a late attempt over as the hosts protected their narrow lead and Monaco finished without an equaliser.

In comments published by Monaco after the match, coach Filipe Luís said his team had moved the ball too slowly during the first half. He credited Lorient with maintaining a compact defensive shape while remaining dangerous on the counterattack. Monaco’s control of possession had not translated into enough danger near the home side’s penalty area, he said.

The coach explained that Lorient’s wide players had pressed Monaco’s full-backs aggressively, limiting the time available to control the ball. Much of the responsibility for starting attacks consequently fell to the central defenders and defensive midfielders. He felt Monaco improved after the interval, but said conceding the penalty made the task harder against opponents comfortable defending their advantage.

Filipe Luís said Monaco had prepared for a deep defensive block but had not executed their intended approach successfully. He called for further improvement while praising his players’ effort despite the defeat. Attention now turns to Thursday’s Conference League home match against Freiburg, with the coach urging his side to approach the schedule one game at a time.