A corner at 14', a centre-back at the end of it, and Monaco win the opener 1-0

Set pieces decide more opening days than anyone plans for. Monaco won a corner after a quarter of an hour, Eric Dier attacked it, and that was the game.

1-0 at 14', and then seventy-five minutes of Le Havre trying and Monaco managing.

Mpasi kept it to one

Lionel Mpasi made six saves in the Le Havre goal. Monaco put seven shots on target — 47% of what they attempted — and were only stopped from turning a narrow win into a comfortable one by their opponent's goalkeeper.

At the other end, Le Havre managed four on target and 0.60 expected goals against Monaco's 1.39. Stanis Idumbo had four shots of his own and gave the home defence its worst afternoon. Le Havre pushed late; Lukas Hradecky made three saves and Monaco did not concede.

Match facts

• 14' — Eric Dier (Monaco), from a corner
• Lionel Mpasi: six saves for Le Havre
• Lukas Hradecky: three saves for Monaco

What's next

Monaco open with three points and a clean sheet, which is exactly the start a side with European ambitions wants. Le Havre open with none, and already know how tight the margins are going to be.

The scorer: a free-agent signing settling in fast

Dier arrived at Monaco as a free agent in the summer, signing a three-year deal after his contract at Bayern Munich expired. He had spent two seasons in Munich, winning the Bundesliga there, and before that had been a regular for England — 49 caps, including the run to the 2018 World Cup semi-final. At 32, he is one of the more experienced heads in Monaco's back line, and a corner header on the opening day was as direct an introduction to Ligue 1 as it gets.

Monaco's opening win turned into a title charge

That single Dier header was the first result of an unbeaten start to the season. Monaco followed it with a 2-0 win over Marseille at home in matchday 2, a 2-1 victory away at Paris Saint-Germain in matchday 3, a 1-1 draw at Strasbourg in matchday 4, and a 2-1 win over Lens sealed by a late own goal in matchday 5. Four wins and a draw from five matches is the best record in Ligue 1, and going into the international break Monaco sit top of the table on 13 points — the only side in the division yet to lose all season.

Le Havre are still waiting for their first win

For Le Havre, the opening-day defeat set the tone for a difficult month. They drew 1-1 at Lyon in matchday 2 after Mbwana Samatta put them ahead late on, lost 1-2 at home to Brest in matchday 3 while playing the last 45 minutes with ten men following Mwanga's sending-off, and finally recorded a first clean sheet of the season in a goalless draw with Angers in matchday 4. Josh Maja and Samatta both scored in a 2-3 defeat at Toulouse in matchday 5, but five matchdays into the season Le Havre are still without a win — three draws and two defeats worth two points in total.

Where the table stands a month later

The gap between the two sides has only widened since that August afternoon at the Stade Océane. Monaco go into the international break top of Ligue 1 on 13 points from five games — four wins, one draw, eight scored and three conceded — three points clear of Lyon and Paris FC in the Champions League places. Le Havre are 18th and bottom on 2 points from five games, with no wins, two draws and three losses, four scored and seven conceded, sitting inside the two automatic relegation places that currently run from 17th to 18th. A tight, single-goal opener in August now reads as the first data point in a season heading in opposite directions for the two clubs.