Supporters in the stands of the Parc des Princes certainly got the goal-filled fixture they bargained for, as Paris Saint-Germain defeated a solid AS Monaco team 5-2 in the French capital on the evening of Friday, November 24.
The match picked up in intensity right from kick-off, as Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn made some strong saves to keep the Parisians at bay, with one particularly impressive point-blank save to deny Paris and France captain Kylian Mbappe the opener at the eighth minute.
Three minutes later it was the turn of opposing goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma to get a glove to a firmly headed shot by Soungoutou Magassa on a corner.
The players of the Principality believed they opened the scoring through Vanderson at the 15th minute, but the goal was refused as Folarin Balogun was deemed to be slightly off-side at the beginning of the action. The situation worsened three minutes later, when Gonçalo Ramos capitalised on a mistake by Köhn to open the scoring for Paris at the 18th minute.
Relentless in this match, Takumi Minamino equalised for Monaco with a powerful low shot past Donnarumma at only the 22nd minute.
Mbappe came back to score 10 minutes later but Köhn was on hand to make an outrageous save, diving to the ground at the drop of a hat to keep the scoreline level.
However, the Swiss goalie was unable to stop Mbappe from the penalty spot, as the Monaco academy product struck the ball with power to make it 2-1. Mbappe showed great respect to his former club by not celebrating his goal.
The second half of the fixture was just as intense, with Monaco refusing to give in against the leaders of Ligue 1 despite an ensuing onslaught of goals. The host’s summer signing, Ousmane Dembélé scored his first ever goal for Paris from a ridiculously tight angle to make it 3-1 at the 71st minute.
Vitinha then scored two minutes later from just outside of the box to bring the hosts even further ahead by 4-1. Not happy with this development, Balogun got one back with a low driven shot past Donnarumma to make it 4-2, having been found with a ball by a masterful Minamino at the 75th minute.
The goal frenzy continued beyond 90 minutes, as Randal Kolo Muani found the back of the net seven minutes into injury time to make it a 5-2 win for Paris at the end of an exhausting evening for all.
Defeated but not without a fight, Monaco now firmly occupy third place in the Ligue 1 table, while Paris extend their lead at the top with three points from this victory. The next opportunity for the Monegasques to climb the table will see Monaco host Montpellier at the Stade Louis II on Sunday, December 3.
Featured image courtesy of AS Monaco
