After two flattering draws to start the season, Paris Saint-Germain fell to AS Monaco in front of its home crowd on Friday night. PSG remains winless—and is already seven points behind the Monegasques.
Most recently, Luis Enrique’s Parisian side had failed to cover themselves in glory in a 2-2 draw at Lille—just as they had in the season opener at Rennes—and only managed to salvage a point late in the game thanks to two goals in stoppage time. Facing AS Monaco, who had started the season with two wins, including a 2-0 victory over Olympique Marseille, PSG was determined to set the record straight from the very beginning.
After about half an hour, Marquinhos put the attacking hosts ahead: Kvaratskhelia was sent down the baseline by Fabian, and Marquinhos chest-tapped his cross over the line (31′). After that, Monaco coach Filipe Luis had his goalkeeper to thank for keeping the deficit from growing before halftime, but former Leverkusen player Hradecky was on his toes time and again and also shone with some spectacular saves.
He would have been powerless to stop a shot by his former teammate Akliouche after the break, but the ball slammed off the crossbar. On the other end, the Monegasques equalized seemingly out of nowhere: Golovin found Teze, who looked for Brunner—who had been inconspicuous that evening—but Brunner missed the ball. Teze’s second cross, however, landed in front of the goal: Flavio Nazinho nodded it in to tie the game (58th minute).
And things got even worse for PSG: The Parisians failed to clear a run by Zakaria; Golovin laid the ball off to Idumbo, who fired a powerful shot under the crossbar into the near corner to give the visitors the lead (72′). Paris pressed forward in the ensuing minutes; after a nice combination, substitute Ferran Torres put the ball in the net—but the goal was called back for offside. Dembelé, also a substitute, hit the side netting again in stoppage time and forced Hradecky into a brilliant save shortly afterward. But that was all they could manage.
With this 1-2 loss, PSG—which faces Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday (9:00 p.m.) in its Champions League opener—has just two points after three games. Monaco, on the other hand, already has nine points and will travel to face Racing Strasbourg this coming Saturday (5:15 p.m.).
