AS Monaco produced a thrilling display of attacking football to defeat FC Nantes 3-5 on the night of Wednesday, October 29, reclaiming second place in Ligue 1 and keeping the pressure on league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
The Red and Whites came flying out of the blocks at the Stade de la Beaujoire, with Mamadou Coulibaly opening the scoring inside six minutes from a Maghnes Akliouche cross — a perfect start for the homegrown midfielder’s first professional goal. Despite Monaco’s early dominance, Nantes hit back through Bahereba Guirassy to level the score against the run of play.
Folarin Balogun restored Monaco’s lead before half-time, calmly finishing a one-on-one for his third goal of the season, only for Nantes to equalise again just before the break in a frantic first 45 minutes.
The second half continued in the same high-octane fashion. Akliouche — nicknamed “Magic Maghnes” — struck again with a sublime curling finish to put Monaco ahead 3–2. Substitute Aleksandr Golovin then extended the lead to 4–2, before Mostafa Mohamed clawed one back for the hosts to make it 4–3 and set up a tense finale.
But in stoppage time, Ansu Fati sealed the win with a close-range header, ensuring Monaco walked away with all three points after an eight-goal thriller.
The result marks Monaco’s second consecutive victory and their 15th straight match unbeaten against Nantes. With this win, Sébastien Pocognoli’s side move back up to second in the table, just one point behind PSG.
Next up, Monaco return home to the Stade Louis-II on Saturday evening to face Paris FC, where they’ll be aiming for a third win on the bounce and a continued push for the top spot.
