Paris Brunner scored a sublime solo goal in first-half stoppage time before Lamine Camara and substitute Ansu Fati struck late as Monaco beat Freiburg 3-0 at Stade Louis II on Thursday to make it two wins from two in the UEFA Conference League.
Brunner's moment of magic breaks the deadlock
For 45 minutes Freiburg held their own. Goalkeeper Mio Backhaus denied Mamadou Coulibaly with his leg and then kept out Brunner as Monaco, beaten for the first time this season by Lorient on Sunday, pressed without reward, as the live report by Bundesliga.com detailed.
Then, in the second minute of added time, Brunner produced the moment of the night. The 20-year-old Germany youth international flicked the ball up and over Max Rosenfelder with his back to goal, steadied himself and slammed an unstoppable finish past Backhaus. Post-match, Monaco head coach Filipe Luis said Brunner was "close to becoming one of the best strikers in the world" — and on this evidence, with the striker now scoring in four straight games, it did not sound like exaggeration.
Freiburg push but Hradecky stands firm
Julian Schuster's side, looking for a response to their own first defeat of the season at the weekend, were much improved after the restart. A loose ball fell to Lukas Kubler inside the area early in the second half, but Lukas Hradecky flung himself in the way of the first effort and the follow-up was cleared to safety.
Freiburg kept coming — they finished with 11 corners — but they managed only two shots on target all night and, as they committed more men forward, they left exactly the space Monaco's substitutes were waiting to exploit, a pattern also noted in the UEFA round-up of the night's action.
Fati changes it and Camara finishes it
Fati entered just before the hour and changed the rhythm of the game. On 83 minutes he broke through and shot at Backhaus, who could only parry the ball into the path of Camara, and the Senegal midfielder — who had soldiered on after needing treatment on a knee problem minutes earlier — drilled in from inside the box for the goal his all-action performance deserved.
Fati then completed the scoring himself in the second minute of stoppage time, curling a low effort into the bottom corner to seal Freiburg's first European defeat of the season. The German side had won their opener against Jablonec, while on the same night Ajax left it late to beat Atalanta and Brighton were held goalless in Czechia.
So what does it mean?
Monaco are one of eight clubs with a perfect record after two matchdays, on six points, and they host Nordsjaelland next in this competition on 5 November, with Lille visiting Stade Louis II in Ligue 1 on Sunday first. Freiburg stay on three points and face the hardest possible reset — a trip to perfect Trabzonspor next in Europe — knowing their second-half performance deserved more than a 3-0 defeat, but also that two shots on target will not win many European away games.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is what a squad built in layers looks like. Monaco won this game three times over — first with a 20-year-old's piece of genius, then with their goalkeeper and their discipline when Freiburg surged, and finally with a substitute of Fati's quality killing the counter. Camara's goal was the heart of it: a Senegalese midfielder who refused to come off, arriving exactly where a tired defence did not want him. If Filipe Luis keeps getting a different hero every week, Monaco are not Conference League participants — they are Conference League favourites. Was Brunner's opener the best goal in Europe this week? Let us know in the comments.
