Paris Saint-Germain stayed in first place in the French league despite being held to a draw at home to Monaco, as they won and scored a penalty. On Sunday, he latched onto Lionel Messi’s pass down the left and cut inside central defender Guillermo Maripan, who appeared to catch him with an outstretched leg.
The referee waved away the penalty claims, but then awarded the kick following a video review. The player used his staggered run-up to confuse the goalkeeper before guiding the ball into the left post. It was his eighth goal of the season and sixth in five games.
Monaco took the lead in the 20th when it denied space to its famed attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Kevin Volland struck a low shot into the bottom right corner after Russia’s Aleksandr Golovin sent a pass into the path of the German who held off Presnel Kimpembe.
Check out #PSGASM with #Inside. (1-1) pic.twitter.com/5PjQSVzxAh
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 29, 2022
The strike force had 17 league goals in the previous three games, but did not hit the target until Kylian Mbappe’s shot in the 37th minute.
“They did a great job closing us down,” Marquinhos said.
They stopped us from moving the ball out of the back.
In first-half injury time, Messi’s curler from 20 meters clipped the left upright and bounced to Mbappe, who rushed his shot and hit the base of the right post.
At the start of the second half, Marquinhos gave away a clumsy corner, and minutes later, Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder had a chance to score after Donnarumma rushed off his line. In the 59th, Nuebel made a great stop to deny the Brazilian but was beaten on his penalty.
In an earlier game, coach Tudor’s new-look team won at Nice, thanks in part to the two goals scored by their star player. Nice has recruited well, bringing in established players such as goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and forward Nicolas Pepe, but is still looking for a win and is in 18th place.
The appointment of Tudor, who is known as a disciplinarian and whose appointment was questioned by fans, has made a strong start to his career.
Tudor is winning over fans with their pressing soccer. He said he’d give the Payet games. He started him in front ofnchez, a much-heralded signing from Inter Milan.
The Chile forward grabbed his first goal in the 10th minute and, after Nuno Tavares made it three goals in four games this season, he combined with Payet to help set up the second goal.
