Paris Saint-Germain had a bad week as after their Coupe de France exit after losing 1-2 to their traditional rival Marseille mid-week, they again lost to host Monaco 1-3 in the local league.
And at Stade Louis II, the capital’s team played the match in the absence of their top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who was absent from the stadiums for almost three weeks, and his Argentine star Lionel Messi due to a muscle injury, in addition to Spanish defender Sergio Ramos (participating in the second half) and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti. He is coached by several young players, including left-back Shadai Picibao, promising midfielder Warren Zaire Yamari (16) and Timothy Pembili.
Monaco struck the first blow when Russia’s Aleksandr Golovin took advantage of Drabaka’s advantage in front of the capital’s goal and opened the scoring just four minutes later, raising his tally to five goals this season.
Then former France international Wissam Ben Yedder added a second goal with a ball that crawled out of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s reach in the 18th minute.
Monaco had several chances, but the attackers missed one after another before Saint-Germain closed the gap with Zaire Emery, who chased the ball from close range into the net in the 39th minute.
But Saint-Germain’s defense weakened again, conceding a third goal, also signed by Ben Yedder, in the 45+2 minute.
The Paris side’s defeat came three days before their upcoming match against Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League final next Tuesday.
Despite the loss, Saint-Germain remained at the top of the league with 54 points, while Monaco moved up temporarily to second place, by seven points, pending the outcome of the match against Marseille, which was later hosted by Clermont-Ferrand.
Source: agencies
