AS Monaco produced a stunning comeback at the Parc des Princes on Friday, September 4, coming from a goal down at the break to beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 and extend their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season, moving further clear at the top of the table in the process.
Monaco arrived in Paris full of confidence after four straight wins to open the campaign, including a 2-0 victory over Marseille the previous weekend, and a record over PSG that has favoured them more than most, having beaten the reigning European champions six times in their last twelve league meetings since 2020-21. Head coach Filipe Luís stuck with continuity once again, naming the same starting eleven for the fourth consecutive match, with Paris Brunner leading the line and the Zakaria-Camara pairing shielding an unchanged Sané-Dier defensive partnership.
PSG dominated the early exchanges in front of a raucous Parc des Princes crowd that included more than 1,000 travelling Monaco supporters, with Désiré Doué causing early problems and forcing two smart saves from goalkeeper Lukáš Hradecký inside the opening quarter-hour. The Finn could do nothing, however, when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s low cross was turned in by Marquinhos to give the hosts a 31st-minute lead. PSG continued to press their advantage, with Hradecký producing further saves to deny Kvaratskhelia and Fabián Ruiz before the break, while Monaco’s best chance of the half fell to Brunner, whose first-time effort from a clever pivot just failed to hit the target.
PSG continued to push after the restart, testing Hradecký again through Akliouche and a long-range effort from Vitinha, but it was Monaco who struck next. Substitute Jordan Teze, on just moments earlier, picked out Flávio Nazinho at the back post, and the Portuguese full-back headed home his first goal for the club to level the score at 1-1 in the 58th minute. The goal breathed fresh life into the visitors, who withstood a fierce PSG response, Hradecký again the hero with saves to deny both Achraf Hakimi and Kvaratskhelia, before turning the game on its head entirely. Denis Zakaria found Aleksandr Golovin, who picked out Stanis Idumbo in space, and the Belgian winger powered his effort past Matvey Safonov to complete the turnaround and make it 1-2 in the 72nd minute, his second goal for the club and Golovin’s 40th career Ligue 1 assist.
PSG threw everything at Monaco in search of an equaliser late on, and briefly thought they had one when Ferran Torres headed home in the 84th minute, only for the goal to be ruled out for an earlier offside against Ousmane Dembélé. Hradecký was called upon once more deep into stoppage time, producing a remarkable reflex save to deny a curling Dembélé effort in the 95th minute and secure all three points, his ninth save of the match.
The win, secured in some style against the double European champions, keeps Monaco top of Ligue 1 after three rounds, unbeaten through their opening five matches of the season, and marks Hradecký’s finest individual display in Monaco colours to date. Only Stéphane Ruffier, with ten saves against PSG in January 2010, has recorded more in a single Ligue 1 match for the club since Opta’s records began tracking the competition in 2006-07. Attention now turns to next weekend’s trip to Le Mans.