Adebayor notches Monaco hat-trick
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Monaco celebrate Morientes' goal.
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PARIS, France (Reuters) -- A hat-trick from second-choice striker Manuel Adebayor helped French leaders Monaco wrap up a 4-0 victory over lowly Montpellier and stretch their lead at the top to seven points.
Monaco now have 54 points from 25 games ahead of Lyon on 47 points with Paris St Germain a further point back, both from 24 games.
On Saturday, champions Lyon host Le Mans while PSG entertain another struggling team Guingamp.
Monaco, beaten for the first time at home by Lille last week, had to wait until the second half to break the deadlock but Adebayor opened the floodgates in the 47th minute.
Spaniard Fernando Morientes made it 2-0 a minute later before Adebayor grabbed his hat-trick and sank Montpellier with two more goals after 57 and 71 minutes.
Worst defense
Montpellier, who have the worst defense in the league and changed their coach just a week ago after a 6-1 thrashing by PSG, finished without goalkeeper Rudy Riou after he was sent off for a foul on Croatian Dado Prso six minutes from time.
The first half seemed to confirm that the absence of injured playmaker and goalscorer Ludovic Giuly and defender Sebastien Squillaci had weakened Monaco.
"I was not very happy about our first half and I said rather nasty things during the break," said Monaco coach Didier Deschamps.
But once Adebayor put Monaco ahead things went from bad to worse for Montpellier, who have now earned just one point in their last 11 games and conceded 49 goals in 25 matches.
Adebayor's hat-trick did not overly impress Deschamps, however. "He has lots of qualities but tends to rest on his laurels," said the principality team's coach.
The victory gave Monaco a welcome boost ahead of their visit to Lokomotiv Moscow in the first knockout stage of the Champions League next Tuesday as they bid to reach the quarterfinals.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
