Paris Saint-Germain recovered from a disastrous start as Desire Doue inspired a comeback from two goals down to defeat Monaco 3-2 in the Principality in the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase play-off tie on Tuesday.
United States star Folarin Balogun opened the scoring after just 55 seconds and doubled the lead at 18 minutes, putting Monaco in control against their Ligue 1 rivals at the Stade Louis II.
Vitinha then missed a penalty, while last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, Ousmane Dembele, was forced off injured before the half-hour mark. His replacement, Doue, sparked the turnaround.
Doue pulled one back and then assisted Achraf Hakimi for the equaliser just before half-time. Monaco’s Aleksandr Golovin was then sent off at the start of the second half, and Doue scored the winner on 67 minutes.
It was a remarkable contest, keeping the tie alive ahead of the return leg in Paris next Wednesday. Luis Enrique’s side are now strong favourites to secure a place in the last 16 on home turf.
PSG entered the game having been displaced from the top spot in Ligue 1 following a defeat at Rennes last weekend, with Lens taking the lead. Despite this, they remain 20 points clear of Monaco, who sit eighth after struggling for consistency.
Monaco, however, had previously held Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus to draws at home in Europe and had beaten PSG 1-0 in Ligue 1 in November.
Balogun double, Dembele injury
PSG conceded inside a minute as Balogun headed in from a Aleksandr Golovin cross — the fastest goal PSG have ever conceded in a European tie.
Monaco doubled their advantage when Balogun combined with Maghnes Akliouche before finishing past goalkeeper Matfei Safonov.
A shock result seemed possible when Vitinha’s penalty was saved by Philipp Koehn after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was fouled by Wout Faes in the box. That marked the fourth penalty PSG had failed to convert in their last five Champions League attempts.
Dembele, who had been a slight doubt before the match and has suffered an injury-hit season, was forced off – but his withdrawal proved pivotal, as Doue’s introduction changed the game.
Barely two minutes after coming on, Doué controlled a Bradley Barcola pass in the box and fired a low left-footed shot into the far corner.
The equaliser followed four minutes before half-time, when Doue’s shot was parried by Koehn and Hakimi slotted home the rebound.
Monaco’s control vanished three minutes into the second half when Golovin was sent off following a VAR review of his challenge on Vitinha, giving PSG a numerical advantage.
PSG capitalised as Warren Zaire-Emery set up Doue to score his second of the night in the 67th minute, making it 3-2.
PSG will hope to finish the tie in Paris, with the winners set to face either Barcelona or Chelsea in the next round.
While it remains a tough task for Monaco, they will likely be relieved to travel to Paris with only a one-goal deficit after spending much of the match with ten men.
