Arsenal outcast goes from zero to hero in the Champions League but goalie praises him for cinderella moment

By Alessandro Schiavone at Stade Louis II, Montecarlo

Champions League, Matchday 6

Monaco 1-0 Galatasaray

Goal: Balogun 68'

Mikel Arteta must have tapped himself on the shoulder in self-congratulatory mode and shouted "Muy bien, Mikel' to himself if he happened to watch Folarin Balogun's avalanche of missed chances against Galatasaray from his Brugge hotel yesterday night.

And watching the scoreboard should not deceive anyone here!

Balogun may have displayed his more opportunistic and lethal side when he pounced on a loose ball to give AS Monaco a precious 1-0 win over the Turks.

But his three missed sitters will NOT earn him top marks by Capital Football today.

In what looked like a flip-of-the-coin type of the game before kick-off, the American international spurned three chances either side of half-time.

And clear-cut ones at that that could have cost manager Sebastien Pocognoli his job had he not redeemed himself with a scrappy winner in the 68th minute as the vivacious and undeflated monégasques kept throwing the kitchen's sink at it in a bid to turn a dominant display into three points.

In the first period he headed over despite having two-thirds of Çakir's gaping goal to aim at following Salisu's excellent flick-on from a corner.

His disasterclass was preceded by Chelsea flop Denis Zakaria having his penalty stopped by Turkey international Çakir after Spurs one-timer Davinson Sanchez tripped former Reds Minamino in the box.

As the game wore on, Monaco upped their tempo and MOTM Japan winger Minamino served up a treat of a square pass for Balogun which he incredibly stabbed wide. To the fury of the outnumbered Monaco fans in the stands. After all he used to bury them chances in his sleep (at a lower level) back in the day playing alongside Reims' own Japan ace Ito.

It was probably harder to miss than to score that one. And he did not do much better when through on goal he fired over as the fans' patience began to run out.

He was not the only player to not have covered himself in glory in Montecarlo yesterday as Galatasaray's Ilkay Gündogan and Monaco starlet Lamine Camara equally flopped in the box when missing easy chances.

Maverick and serial Chelsea transfer target Victor Osimhen had a few shots blocked here during the visitors period of dominance in the first half-hour.

But unlike them all, Balogun redeemed himself with a lucky goal to go from zero to... hero.

Not sure he knew much about it.

Yet nobody in the principality will give a damn about it today. Thanks to the win the club is now in a much healthier position and level with Galatasaray in 17th with two games against Real Madrid and Juve to play.

As the years ticked on, since cashing in on him despite starring for Reims in Ligue 1 in 2022/23, it's become increasingly evident that the club might have made the right call on the then red-hot frontman.

The 21 goals he scored at Stade Auguste Delaune did not persuade Arteta to give him a platform and in time that decision proved prophetic for the Basque.

Are we sure the Gunners academy graduate was only a bit undercooked to feature for the Premier League supremos?

Asked about Balogun's cinderella game, goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky told Capital Football: "He kept on pushing, he kept on doing the work.

"I know it's frustrating as a striker if you don't score every chance you have.

"But he was there when we needed him.

"We missed the penalty, three four big chances so at the end I think the win was maybe deserved.

"It wasn't an easy game but it's kind of the story of our season... not to be able to play 90 minutes of good football.

"Today luckily for us 45 minutes was enough."

"I think you need around 11, 12, 13 points to go through so this was a very big victory."

XI AS Monaco

1 Hradecky- 2 Vanderson- 5 Kehrer- 6 Zakaria- 9 Balogun- 10 Golovin- 11 Akliouche- 12 Henrique- 15 Camara- 18 Minamino - 22 Salisu

XI Galatasaray

1 Cakir- 4 Jakobs- 6 Sanchez- 7 Sallai- 8 Sara- 10 Sane- 20 Gundogan- 34 Torreira- 42 Bardakci- 45 Osimhen- 53 Yilmaz