Poch Hat-Trick Flattens Monaco

Nice did not just beat Monaco. They walked into the principality and took the place apart, and Robert Poch took the ball home. Three goals, all of them his, and a 3-0 scoreline that flatters the home side if anything.

Our preview asked whether a Monaco side winless in five, and missing the midfield that made their autumn, could hold off a Nice team that had beaten them three times running. The answer arrived inside half an hour. Poch opened the scoring on 29 minutes, and whatever Monaco had planned at the break lasted barely a minute of the second half: Poch struck again on 46, and completed his hat-trick on 50. Three shots on target from six attempts, and he was gone by the 67th minute, his work long finished.

Monaco huffed and puffed. Twelve shots, seven of them from distance, not a single clear-cut chance, and an expected-goals figure of 0.9 that tells the story of a team shooting hopefully. Ido Hayat, handed a start up front, had four efforts and nothing to show for them. Jordan Ibanez, seventeen and thrown into the left of midfield, ran himself into the ground with 13.9 kilometres; Romaric Tournier made eight interceptions. Fine shifts, both, in a losing cause. Masimo Prizmić still had four saves to make, and made them.

Nice's supporting cast was just as sharp. Bryan Fonteneau won five tackles and set up a goal before making way on 61 minutes; Jorge Salazar supplied the other assist. The bookings piled up — nine yellows across the two sides, five of them Nice's — but the derby's edge never tilted the other way.

One small footnote for the home crowd: Juan Luis Revuelta, who once wore Nice's colours, came on at half-time. He could only watch the rest of Poch's masterclass from inside it.