Sunderland outcast helps Strasbourg ruin Thierry Henry’s special day

Add as preferred source on Google

This weekend saw Thierry Henry take charge of his first game as manager of struggling Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco. The Champions League semi-finalists from 2017 are currently second from bottom in the league and are desperate for a turnaround in form.

Yesterday, they came up against an inspired Strasbourg and an excellent performance from a player Sunderland fans will struggle to reconcile with.

Lamine Kone joined the Alsace-based club on loan this summer. Once rated as highly as £18 million, as reported by The Sun, the Ivorian fast became a shadow of his best self at the Stadium of Light.

His form dropped dramatically once Everton were denied the chance to speak with him and soon enough Sunderland wanted Kone gone.

After relegation to League One this summer they looked desperately for a buyer. In the end, a loan deal had to suffice and Kone was off to Strasbourg.

He has mostly been used as a substitute this season. But he started in a back-three yesterday, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 win.

He played well throughout with the highlight being an excellent goal-line clearance with his chest with the score at 1-0.

Overall he played brilliantly as he helped stop the attacking talents of Radamel Falcao, Stevan Jovetic, Aleksandr Golovin and Nacer Chadli from breaking through.

Sunderland fans know how well Kone can play. There is a reason why teams were once willing to pay nearly £20 million for his services.

What still comes as a surprise is how swiftly he downed tools when things did not go his way.