Folarin Balogun’s first Monaco start couldn’t have gone much worse as the striker missed from the spot twice against Nice.
Monaco were stunned in a 1-0 loss against rivals Nice despite having two chances to take the lead from the penalty spot. Balogun, however, missed both of those chances in what was a disastrous full debut for his new club.
Balogun had scored in Monaco’s last match, a 2-2 draw away to Lorient, having made a cameo at home in a 3-0 win against Lens earlier this month. However, in his first real chance to make a first impression at his new club, Balogun struggled mightily in what will certainly go down as the worst day of his professional career so far.
It was made much worse in stoppage time when, as the two teams marched towards a draw, Nice stole all three points thanks to a 91st minute goal from Jeremie Boga.
Balogun had two chances from the penalty spot, but the USMNT striker saw both of his spot kicks saved by Marcin Bulka.
His first came just 11 minutes in, but Balogun’s shot was rather tame, leaving Bulka with an easy save on a shot that was relatively down the middle.
Balogun’s second wasn’t much different, as Bulka barely had to move once again to push away the striker’s second chance to give his side the lead from the penalty spot.
In total, Balogun had 30 touches and looked relatively okay from open play, but his day was defined by those missed chances, which led to a bigger missed chance to impress the supporters at his new club.
Thus far, Balogun had been eased in to the Monaco XI, having signed late in the window. Despite his massive fee, Monaco seemed content to let Balogun adjust to his surroundings before unleashing him back onto Ligue 1 after his breakout campaign last season with Reims.
That day came on Friday in this first start, but it couldn’t have gone much worse. Balogun was clearly eager to atone after his missed penalties but, shortly after missing his second, he was taken out in place of incumbent starter Wissam Ben Yedder.
The Frenchman offered some words of encouragement for Balogun as he came out, but this performance could certainly put Balogun’s starting spot back in danger. Adi Hutter will have a big decision to make in the coming weeks: does he go with Ben Yedder and risk harming Balogun’s confidence even further or does he stick with the USMNT striker despite an awful debut in front of a home crowd?
Striker is a position that is so tied to confidence, which means the USMNT certainly won’t be happy to see Balogun potentially plunge himself into a mini-crisis.
Balogun was certainly eager to impress, and you have to give him credit for stepping up to take the second penalty kick after missing the first . However, Balogun’s confidence and decisiveness in front of goal is what has set him apart. If that disappears, who knows what things will look like.
Forwards need to have short memories, and Balogun will need to prove he has exactly that as he looks to put this nightmare day behind him.
Goal
