Three wins, then a wobble at the Meinau
Monaco arrived in Alsace with a perfect record and left with their first dropped points of the Ligue 1 season. The 1-1 draw at Strasbourg on Saturday ended a run of three straight wins that had included victory at Paris Saint-Germain eight days earlier.
The goal that put Monaco behind was not Strasbourg’s to claim. Sadibou Sane turned the ball into his own net shortly after half-time, the sort of accident that decides more matches in this league than any tactical plan. Strasbourg had been in the game and now they were in front.
Paris Brunner settled it back. The Germany youth international took aim from roughly 20 metres and found the corner, his fifth goal in six appearances for Monaco across all competitions this season. For a player still building a senior career, that is a strike rate worth pausing on.
Try it for $0.99.
The top of the table moves again
Rennes had taken first place on Friday night by beating Marseille 1-0. Monaco’s point was enough to take it straight back, on goal difference, and they reach ten points from four matches.
That lead is fragile. Paris FC and Lyon meet in the French capital in Saturday’s late kick-off, and either could climb level on ten. Monaco’s margin at the top is currently measured in goals rather than points, which is the kind of position that tends not to survive a bad Sunday.
PSG’s problem is domestic
The champions remain the strangest story of the early season. Luis Enrique’s side opened their bid for a third consecutive Champions League title in midweek by taking Slovan Bratislava apart 6-1. In Ligue 1 they have two points from three matches and no win at all.
They travel to Brest on Sunday, where the hosts are still unbeaten. A fourth league game without a victory would leave PSG eight points behind Monaco before the end of September, which for a club that has controlled this competition for over a decade is an unfamiliar sort of arithmetic.
Discover the rest of our Football news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply