There is little time remaining for a final flourish as the substitutes introduced by Jardim try to make a telling impact and impress before that vital league fixture at the weekend as they host Lyon.
90'
Introduced late on in proceedings, Ninga has at least shown some impetus up front for the visitors as he is beaten to the ball by an onrushing Subasic before he could present himself with a one-one-one situation in front of goal.
88'
Substitute Ghezzal displays some wonderful skill to jink through the defence and Youri Tielmans. With space and time on the left, the Belgian plays in Rony Lopes in the centre but he slips at the vital moment and the ball is cleared.
86'
Moutinho is lucky to have escaped a caution in this game for persistent fouls as he again brings down Montpellier midfield general Sambia. The hosts break through Rony Lopes but this time it’s his turn to be on the end of a cynical challenge as Aguilar brings him down in front of the dugouts.
84'
R. Ghezzal enters the game and replaces R. Falcao.
Substitution: Falcao is replaced by Algerian Rachid Ghezzal.
83'
A touch of complacency has crept into Jardim’s side's play, who are doing the bare minimum to ensure progression to a final where PSG with Neymar and company would await.
80'
Ninga so close to an instant impact but he is foiled when striking Montpellier’s best opportunity of the match goal wards. You feel that spurning that opportunity could be a final nail in the coffin.
79'
C. Ninga enters the game and replaces G. Sio.
Substitution: Sio’s last action in the game is to take far too long to get a shot off with the goal in his sights. His effort is crowded out. He is replaced by Casimir Ninga.
78'
S. Camara enters the game and replaces G. Sio.
Substitution: Isaac Mbenza comes off for Souleymane Camara in a last throw of the dice for the visitors.
77'
Monaco haven't really had to play with much intensity in a match that hasn’t really had a semi-final feel to it. They perhaps have one eye on a vital Ligue 1 fixture on Sunday as they entertain Lyon.
Minute
Description
74'
This match appears to be petering out as frustration grows in the Montpellier ranks. The hosts continue to look for the dangerous looking Rony Lopes on the left wing but this time it doesn’t come off.
71'
The match becomes yet another across Europe to be shaped by the new VAR technology. Remarkably, Aguilar at right back still looks the man most likely to fashion an opening for the visitors.
69'
Montpellier had been in good form before a Neymar brace and four-goal hammering by PSG at the weekend stopped them in their tracks. They are clinging on by their fingernails here.
67'
CONTROVERSY: While many in the stadium felt the hosts had taken a three-goal advantage, Monaco’s third is retrospectively chalked off as Falcao’s toe is adjudged to be offside before he turned provider to set up Rony Lopes. Not one Montpellier player had appealed. VAR strikes again!
65'
K. Baldé enters the game and replaces Boschilia.
Y. Tielemans enters the game and replaces S. Jovetić.
J. Ikoné enters the game and replaces F. Píriz.
Monaco substitution: Gabriel Boschilia comes off for Keita Baldé Diao.
Montpellier substitution: Píriz González is sacrificed for Jonathan Ikoné as the visitors look to force a way back into the tie.
Jemerson does look quite susceptible to runs behind but it looks as though it could be time for Michel der Zakarian to look to his bench, where he could perhaps introduce the likes of Casimir Ninga, who bagged twice in the Coupe de France last week.
62'
The match still has a lethargic underbelly, played out in a timid atmosphere. It’s been an improved second half performance from La Paillade but they are yet to really panic Subasic in the Monaco goal.
60'
Boschilia gets yellow.
Yellow Card: Boschilia is cautioned on Congre as the Montpellier full back turned away from his marker with the ball.
57'
The hosts are looking sloppy at the back! Congre finds Ellyes Skhiri in space on the edge of the box but fails to take advantage from 20 yards, instead seeing his effort blocked by a melee of defenders. Mpenza then finds space on the left-hand side of the box but his low shot is stopped by the feet of Subasic.
55'
Fabinho gets yellow.
Yellow Card: Fábinho is punished for a late challenge on the away side's Uruguayan midfielder Gonzalez Piriz.
54'
Mukiele yet again involved in an attacking sense for the visitors yet his through ball fails to find the runs of Montpellier front men Sio and Mbenza.
53'
CHANCE! Falcao instinctively finds himself in a good position to head home six yards from goal but he can’t divert Boschilla’s cross past keeper Lecomte.
50'
Finally a bit of feistiness in the game as Chelsea target Mukiele clatters into a 50-50 challenge. Hopefully that will do something to raise what has been a pretty drab atmosphere this evening.
48'
The second half has begun in the same pattern as the first with the hosts dominating proceedings. Mbenza looks to have taken on a more central role in Montpellier’s attacking shape.
46'
We're back underway. The visitors, two goals down with 45 minutes remaining to save the Coupe de la Ligue campaign this season, were sent out early this half by boss Michel der Zakarian.
45' +1
Mukiele makes a lung-busting run from deep before seeing his deflected shot loop safely into the hands of keeper Subasic. Both sides look as though they could do with half time here to re-assess things.
45'
The fourth official has signalled an extra two minutes of injury time to be added on at the end of this first half.
44'
Sambia wins another corner for Montpellier with his speculative 20-yard shot firmly blocked by Glik. An awful corner fails to beat the first man and Monaco again settle into a relaxed spell of possession, content with their lead going into the break.
42'
Monaco boss Jardim will be keen to retain that healthy lead as Montpellier yet again fail to deliver any ball of real quality from set-piece situations. Aguilar picks out Sambia on the edge of the box but his first-time effort is shinned wide for a goal kick.
41'
Despite their two-goal advantage there's still not a palpable sense of excitement inside the Stade Louis II as the home side look to be on their way to cementing a place in the Coupe de la Ligue final.
39'
Aguilar skips past Fabinho and lays it off to Isaac Mbenza. The Belgian sees his whipped cross deflected just wide to the huge relief of Monaco keeper Subasic. The visitors make a complete hash of the resulting corner as it's fired straight out of play.
35'
CHANCE! Montpellier are truly showing their mettle now. Daniel Congre's ball from the left again falls to Aguilar poised at the back stick. His fierce shot at goal is inexplicably diverted over the bar by Sio from eight yards. out. An opportunity wasted.
33'
Perhaps worryingly for La Paillade, Aguilar has been their main danger threat in the opening 30 minutes. Jemerson makes a calamitous error in defence as the visitors again break down the right but a disappointing cross fails to find Sio in space in the box.
31'
A cheeky flick from Giovanni Sio inside the Monaco box almost saw Aguilar fire an instant reprieve for the visitors. The full back had two bites at the cherry before it was eventually cleared.
29'
R. Falcao has scored a goal for Monaco! Assist by Rony Lopes.
Assist Marcos Paulo Mesquita Lopes
Monaco have one foot in the final already as Falcao grabs his second of the night. Raggi plays in Rony Lopes down the left who makes no mistake in powering a hard and low cross that the Columbian striker easily diverted home.
28'
Montpellier look set for another dismal day in the principality of Monaco this evening as the hosts dominate.
26'
From the free-kick resulting from Mendes' foul on Boschilla, Rony Lopes sees his half-volleyed effort sail over the bar for a corner after a slight deflection. The hosts bruising centre-back Jemerson appeals for a penalty but fails to convince the referee.
25'
Pedro Mendes gets yellow.
Yellow Card: Pedro Mendes is booked for a cynical tug on Gabriel Boschilla.
22'
Nordi Mukiele Mulere, who Chelsea were rumoured to be courting this transfer window, is back up after requiring treatment for a heavy challenge from behind by Falcao.
20'
The early goal from the home side has done little to liven the atmosphere in a half full Stade Louis II, the home of Monaco.
18'
OVERTURNED! After consulting a reply of his initial decision to award a penalty as Monaco look to double their lead, Montpellier have been let off the hook as their keeper Lecomte is seen to have won the ball.
17'
The VAR is in action! Steven Jovetic is hurled down in the box by Montpellier keeper Benjamin Lecomte. The referee has initially awarded a penalty yet is to check his handily-placed sideline TV.
15'
R. Falcao has scored a goal for Monaco! Assist by D. Sidibé.
Assist Djibril Sidibé
GOAL! Great work from Sidibe again storming into the box from the left to beat two men. While it looked as though he was fouled just as he looked to pull the trigger, the ball fell perfectly for a lurking Falcao to pass home an instinctive finish low to the keeper's right.
13'
Djibril Sidibe's cross is headed clear to Andrea Raggi at the back post who takes a moment to set himself before firing straight at the keeper from the left flank. As the ball is whipped back into the box, Radamel Falcao is unable to steer his header on target. A first real sight of Monaco's intentions this evening.
11'
FLAT! There's an incredibly subdued atmosphere tonight inside the Stade Louis II as the visitors set their stall out to defend early on. Saying that, Ruben Aguilar has the game's first meaningful effort on goal, comfortably saved by Danijel Subasic.
9'
Rony Lopes has looked to creep in behind the Montpellier back line on a couple of occasions yet failed to remain onside with either of his attempted runs so far.
6'
Having suffered five home defeats at the Stade Louis II already this season, Jardim will be hoping his side can make an early impression on this game. As Joao Moutinho looked to break, he felt the full brunt of a crunching Pedro Mendes challenge.
4'
The visitors, with Armenian boss Michel der Zakarian at the helm, come into this fixture off the back of a heavy defeat to Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain. They haven't started too brightly here either with Monaco enjoying the better of the early exchanges.
2'
The hosts hold quite a large mental hold over their opponents this evening as they hope to reach the final of the Coupe de la Ligue. They haven't been beaten by a Montpellier side in their last 33 meetings.
1'
We're underway in what is realistically now the only trophy that Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim can lift this season.
Good evening and welcome to our live commentary of the Coupe de la Ligue semi-final between Monaco and Montpellier at Stade Louis II.
Beaten finalists at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain last season, Monaco's only success in this competition came under Didier Deschamps in 2003.
Patrice Evra, Rafael Marquez, Jerome Rothen and Dado Prso played in the final, a 4-1 triumph over Sochaux, the season before the Les Monegasques reached the Champions League decider, losing to Jose Mourinho's Porto.
The Ligue 1 title-holders defeated Nice to get to the last four and drew 0-0 at home to tonight's opponents Montpellier as recently as January 13.
The visitors saw off Angers to get this far and are aiming reach the final for only the second time, having lost 1-0 to Marseille in the 2010-11 showpiece.
Olivier Giroud, who joined Chelsea from Arsenal today, played in that game and helped La Paillade to a surprise Ligue 1 triumph a season later.
Montpellier lost 4-0 to PSG last time out, but had won the previous two matches, beating Lorient 4-3 and Toulouse 2-1.
They're not flying quite so high this term, with Michel Der Zakarian's team seventh, 16 points behind fourth placed Monaco.
The teams have been announced, so we'll bring you the line-ups now, starting with the hosts…
Monaco: Danijel Subasic; Andrea Raggi, Kamil Glik, Jemerson, Djibril Sidibe; Joao Moutinho, Fabinho, Stevan Jovetic, Rony Lopes, Gabriel Boschilia; Falcao.
Montpellier: Benjamin Lecomte; Nordi Mukiele, Hilton, Pedro Mendes; Facundo Piriz, Jerome Roussillon, Ellyes Skhiri, Ruben Aguilar, Junior Sambia; Giovanni Sio, Isaac Mbenza.
Montpellier's bench: Nicolas Cozza, Keagan Dolly, Dimitry Bertaud, Jonathan Ikone, Souleymane Camara, Morgan Poaty, Casimir Ninga.
The teams are emerging from the tunnel for this semi-final clash as Montpellier travel to face their bogey side, an out of form Monaco.
HALF TIME - MONACO 2-0 MONTPELLIER: Two clinical strikes from former Manchester United and Chelsea striker Falcao are the difference here as Leonardo Jardim's Monaco look set to book their place in the Coupe de la Ligue final to face Paris St Germain.
One thing Jardim may not be particularly pleased about is the amount of chances afforded to the visitors in the latter stages of that first half. Aguilar has been impressive down the right and seems to have the burden of creativity solely on his shoulders. Sio and Sambia have been guilty of wasting opportunity crafted by the full back.
It’s quite telling that Montpellier lack a prolific goal scorer in their ranks with striker Mbenza their top marksman on four goals this term. At the other end of the pitch Monaco’s front line is notable by the absence of Thomas Lemar, linked with a move to Liverpool with two hours remaining of the English transfer window.
FULL TIME - Monaco 2-0 Montpellier: It wasn’t pretty but it was effective. Victory for the hosts sets up a rematch of last years’ final with PSG beating Rennes in the other semi-final.
Realistically this is the only silverware that Monaco will be capable of collecting this season and that showed in a dominant performance. Not a spectacular performance, they were rarely made to get out of second gear by a toothless Montpellier.
Michel der Zakarian will perhaps be disappointed that his side failed to test a comfortable looking Subasic in the Monaco goal. Aguilar and substitute Ninga gave some glimmers of hope for the travelling fans but they were ultimately uninspiring in defeat.
Clinical first-half finishing proved the difference between the two sides in this Coupe de la Ligue semi-final. Radamel Falcao grabbed his first goals in four appearances with tricky winger Rony Lopes to thank, who arguably gave the brightest display on a timid night of cup action.
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