Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 8y

Monaco used Arsenal result as inspiration vs. Tottenham at Wembley

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim used the ghost of his team's famous Champions League win over Arsenal to help them repeat the feat against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

During the 2014-15 season, Monaco recorded a 3-1 victory against the Gunners at Emirates Stadium in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie, which proved enough to take Monaco into the quarterfinals at the expense of the Premier League side.

Jardim's men triumphed 2-1 over Spurs in their opening group-stage fixture of this season's competition at Wembley on Wednesday after their boss had roused his players by evoking memories of their triumph over their opponents' north London rivals.

"Our approach psychologically was to remind ourselves of how we defeated Arsenal in a stadium which is just as big," Jardim said. "We were determined to stop Tottenham's transitions. They're good at that, and we did some good work."

Monaco took a two-goal lead through Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar before Toby Alderweireld pulled one back for Spurs just before the break in the Group E encounter.

Though he failed to find the net on his first Champions League group-stage appearance in six years, Radamel Falcao was singled out for praise by Jardim after the Colombia international's industrious display in only his second game since recovering from a thigh injury.

"You can't always judge a forward on the goals he could have scored," Jardim said of his 30-year-old striker, who was the subject of prematch scrutiny upon his return to England after disappointing back-to-back loan spells with Manchester United and Chelsea.

"I think Radamel had a great game. He worked hard defensively, and made some great runs."

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