It was a case of same old, same old for the Monaco faithful on Tuesday night in the semi-final of the League Cup at Guingamp. Former coach Leonardo Jardim, sacked three months ago for poor results, took charge of the team from Thierry Henry - also dismissed for a bad run - and lost
The defeat will be all the more galling for Jardim. His side lost midfielder William Vainqueur to a red card in the 14th minute for a crude challenge on Marcus Thuram.
But despite the numerical disadvantage surged into a two goal lead through Rony Lopes and Aleksandr Golovin.
Alexandre Mendy halved the deficit just after the pause and Thuram levelled after 55 minutes.
Neither side could force the winner and for the second consecutive round Monaco went into a shoot-out
On 9 January under Henry at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, they got past Rennes. But Sofiane Diop's missed penalty handed the advantage to Guingamp.
Marcus Coco swept home the decisive kick to send the Bretons into the final for the first time.
"Playing 80-odd minutes with 10 men and to claim a 2-2 scoreline and then to go to penalties, we didn't have luck on our side," said Jardim. "I have to praise my players. They had a good attitude and stuck together."
With elimination from the competition, Monaco will refocus their concentration on maintaining their Ligue 1 status just two years after Jardim led them to the title. After 22 games, they have 15 points and are 19th - the second of the three relegation positions.
Guingamp are 20 - bottom of the pile - with 14 points after 22 games.
