PARIS
\nAS Monaco handed French champions Paris St-Germain their first home defeat of the Ligue 1 season with a 3-1 away victory at the Parc des Princes on Friday that opened up the championship race.
\nMaghnes Akliouche had Monaco ahead at halftime, and Aleksandr Golovin and Folarin Balogun netted after the break for the visitors, while Bradley Barcola scored a consolation for PSG, still four points clear of second-placed RC Lens in the standings.
\nLens, however, have a chance to cut into the lead when they host bottom-placed Metz on Sunday. Monaco, who PSG had eliminated in the Champions League last month, moved up to fifth with 40 points, still 17 behind the leaders.
\nAkliouche punished the home side in the 27th minute after a poor clearance by Warren Zaire-Emery in his own penalty area, with Balogun moving aside so the French international could hit a left-footed finish home from close range. Golovin increased it to 2-0 in the 55th minute with his first touch after coming on as a substitute, sweeping home a square pass from Mamadou Coulibaly.
\nPSG were handed hopes of a comeback when Barcola pulled one back in the 71st minute with a right-footed effort from the left wing. But Monaco took two minutes to restore the two-goal advantage as Balogun\u2019s shot took a deflection off Nuno Mendes before nestling into the back of the net.
\nMonaco could have won by a more emphatic margin as Simon Adingra struck the PSG crossbar two minutes from time.PSG will have to pick themselves up as they host Chelsea on Wednesday as they continue their defence of the Champions League title.
\n\u201cIt is not the best result going into the Champions League. We are aware of that,\u201d said PSG coach Luis Enrique. \u201cWhen you play like that against a team in a very positive dynamic like Monaco, you pay for it.\u201d Enrique will be concerned at how far away his team are from the remarkable form they showed in the second half of last season on their way to winning the Champions League.
\n\u201cWe are clearly in difficulty at the moment but we need to maintain hope that will change,\u201d he added. \u201cConfidence is not just something you buy at the supermarket.\u201d One plus was the latest return from injury of last year\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or winner Ousmane Dembele, who came off the bench in the second half.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS AS Monaco handed French champions Paris St-Germain their first home defeat of the Ligue 1 season with a 3-1 away victory at the Parc des Princes on Friday that opened up the championship race. Maghnes Akliouche had Monaco ahead at halftime, and Aleksandr Golovin and Folarin Balogun netted after the break for the visitors, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-535547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n