The home game against the Ligue 1 outsider did not promise any special problems for one of the best teams of the season. Monaco, after victories of competitors (PSG and Nice) in the ninth round, needed to take three points to return to first place. As a result, the Monegasques did not have an easy walk, and the hosts were able to avoid embarrassment only thanks to Alexander Golovin.

Two goals – two masterpieces

A few days before the game with Metz, the participation of the leader of Monaco in it was in question. In early October, Golovin went to the Russian national team, where it turned out that he would not be able to play in friendly matches with Cameroon and Kenya due to injury.

– Golovin underwent a medical examination, the injury is making itself felt, he felt pain. It won’t play against Cameroon and Kenya,” Valery Karpin noted with regret.

Details of the damage were not disclosed, but fortunately the injury was not serious. On Friday, Monaco’s press attache said that Alexander had returned to training with the team in the general group. One might have expected him to play a limited amount of time against Metz, but in the end the 27-year-old Russian played the full 90 minutes.

Chrislen Matsima and Alexander Golovin / Photo: © Panoramic / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

The start of the match was as bad as possible for the favorite. Already in the fourth minute, Monaco goalkeeper Philippe Koehn managed to miss with a shot from the center of the field. The Swiss moved too far out of goal, which Lamine Camara took advantage of. After such a discouraging start, it took the hosts a fair amount of time to come to their senses.

Monaco found a worthy answer only at the end of the first half. Golovin took the floor, walked away from his guard in one movement, and, being 25 meters from the goal, heartily shot almost into the top corner. The Metz goalkeeper had no chance to cope with such a blow.

Alexander’s achievements did not end there. At the beginning of the second half, Monaco was awarded a free kick near the opponent’s goal. Golovin squinted before the shot like an experienced sniper, and then sent the ball exactly close to the bar.

The issue with the best player of the meeting was removed after such a performance. The Russian received the highest score of 9.2 from the Whoscored.com portal. In total in this game, he had four shots on goal (three on target), was successful in 82% of his passes and scored four key passes.

Will Golovin take Monaco to the title?

Last season for Golovin at Monaco was the most successful since moving to France. Alexander managed to avoid serious injuries, which allowed him to play 34 matches in the championship, in which he scored 8+7 using the goal+pass system. Already, after eight meetings, he has half of last year’s scoring norm (4+1).

Alexander Golovin / Photo: © DeFodi Images / Contributor / DeFodi Images / Gettyimages.ru

For the new head coach of the Monegasques, Adolfo Hütter, the Russian midfielder plays a key role: the Austrian specialist started Golovin in all matches this season. Moreover, unlike his predecessors, he rarely changes Alexander during the second half. In five of the last six meetings, Golovin played without substitutions.

This season, Golovin has already twice been included in the Ligue 1 team of the tour according to the main French sports publication L’Équipe. Each time this happened after he scored goals: in the game with Lens (3:0) in the fourth round and in the fifth round match with Lorient (2:2), in which he scored 1+1. There is no doubt that after his enchanting performance this Sunday, Golovin will be included in the top 11 players this weekend.

It is obvious that the Russian is in amazing form at the beginning of the season, which helps Monaco maintain the lead in the standings. Taking into account the restructuring of PSG, the Monegasques have a real chance of competing with the Parisians for the title. It is gratifying that our football player will also participate in the championship showdown, and in one of the leading roles.