Monaco wins Coupe Gambardella at the expense of Clermont

AS Monaco deserved to bring back the fifth Gambardella Cup in its history, at the Stade de France, against a novice Clermont at this level of the competition. But Monaco got scared in a match it mastered, before finally winning (4-2) this Saturday.

The Auvergnats managed to make the Monegasques doubt, after the opener on their first opportunity from a hip from Robin Pages on a corner (15th). Under the eyes of Paul Mitchell (sporting director) and Ben Lambrecht (general manager), the young Red and Whites were surprised when they had control of the match. They ended up using this domination to regain the advantage.

First thanks to Mayssam Benama (22nd), then by Joan Tincres (25th), two of the most promising players of the 2005 and 2006 generations of AS Monaco. Saïmon Bouabre is also part of this category. The number 10, born in 2006, p***er on the second Monegasque goal, showed an ease with the ball which hinted at great potential. The French logically scored the third goal (57th), which allowed to widen the gap while Mayssam Benama had missed a penalty (34th).

But this Monegasque team, despite its qualities, had a stressful end to the match. The goal of Colas Chastang (65th) revived a slight suspense that Pape Cabral (81st) ended up extinguishing. This success validates ASM’s recent training policy and some of the winning names on Saturday evening will soon be on French professional lawns.