Sunday September 13, 2009

 AS Monaco FC / Paris Saint-Germain : 2 - 0

Paris travelled to the principality looking to notch their fourth win of the season and keep the pace with Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux, who all won the previous evening. Monaco meanwhile were looking at the very least to preserve their record of clean sheets at home this season.

Paris had the better chances of an evenly balanced first 80 minutes and looked the more likely to score but as they pushed forward to make the break, a tenacious Monaco side caught them out and turned the game on its head.

Brazilian sensation Nenê, who had been Monaco's main threat going forward, sent an insightful ball over the Paris defence for Korean superstar Chu-Young Park, who raced into the area before rifling his angled shot past Grégory Coupet to break the deadlock in the 85th minute.

While Paris's Pegguy Luyindula came close to equalising with a header just a minute later, Monaco widened the gap in the 88th minute when Nenê turned scorer when, after a mesmerising run and pass from Argentine Alejandro Alonso, he lashed home a low shot from the edge of the area.

As Paris's ambitions of inflicting a rare home defeat on Monaco faded, their frustration mounted and Benin international Stéphane Sessegnon saw red after a raised-leg challenge on Adriano in the 90th minute.

While the debut of Monaco's star signing, Icelandic international forward Eidur Gudjohnsen, was somewhat low key, Guy Lacombe will be pleased with his side's tenacious and opportunistic performance against his former club.

Antoine Kombouaré meanwhile will be looking for greater concentration and more clinical finishing next week for the visit of in-form Lyon.

The win sees Monaco climb to seventh place on the table while Paris drop to fifth.