Despite battling valiantly, the Monegasques were beaten 2-1 by the Parisian league leaders, with Moutinho pulling one back for the hosts.
There was a slightly different look to the AS Monaco side that hosted PSG, currently top of Ligue 1. While the formation was unchanged, Jorge started on the left of midfield, with Raggi slotting in behind the Brazilian at full-back. PSG were the first to threaten, as Neymar delivered a laser-guided pass from the centre circle through the middle for Mbappé. The striker skipped away from Subasic but was unable to wrap his foot around the ball and shot into the side netting (2’). Moments later, Keita Baldé had a crack from the edge of Aréole’s box, but his rasping effort flew over the bar (6’). The Monegasques were showing tenacity and team spirit in the face of the Parisian attacks, but were caught out in the 19th minute. Rabiot found Draxler on the left of the area, and the German was fortunate to see his cross go through Jemerson’s legs. Cavani dinked the ball home to put PSG in front, and the visitors held their advantage until the break.
The Monegasques had a difficult start to the second half. After hitting the post (48’), Neymar was nudged in the box by Touré, and the referee pointed to the spot. The Brazilian stepped up to send Subasic the wrong way (52’) and double PSG’s lead. The next twenty minutes were tough for the home fans, but the Monaco defence somehow repelled the Parisian onslaught. With ten minutes to go, Moutinho put the ball down for a free-kick on the edge of the box. His effort deflected off Mbappé’s back to wrong foot Areola! AS Monaco were suddenly back in it and went all out in search of an equalizer. The substitutes Lopes, Ghezzal and Sidibé all gave it everything they had, but it was sadly not enough against this PSG side. AS Monaco went down 2-1, with OL leap-frogging them in the table. Now third, the Monegasques travel to the Beaujoire stadium on Wednesday to face Nantes.
Source: www.asmonaco.com