Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) desperately missed their star forwards Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe as they were hammered 3-1 by Monaco away from home who threw their hat in contention for this year’s Ligue 1 title.
Messi, Mbappe and Marco Verratti were all absent for the visitors as Monaco took full advantage to inflict a third loss of the season on PSG as their fragile defence came into focus once again.
Aleksandr Golovin needed just four minutes to find a way past Gianluigi Donnarumma after being set up by Wissam Ben Yedder as PSG failed to clear their lines.
Monaco doubled the lead 14 minutes later as Krepin Diatta pressed the inexperienced 17-year-old defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu into an error that allowed Ben Yedder to fire the ball past Donnarumma.
16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery reduced the deficit in the 39th minute when he put tapped in at the far post after being set up by Juan Bernat who found a way past Monaco’s defence after a neat passing move on the left flank with Carlos Soler.
Their jubilation lasted just minutes as Ben Yedder restored Monaco’s two-goal advantage going into the break after being played through by Eliesse Ben Seghir for his 14th league goal of the season
With the job done, both Monaco and PSG played out the second half without much on offer.
Monaco now sits third in the Ligue 1 table with 47 points, two behind Marseille while PSG continues to lead the table with 54 points from 23 games.
PSG will be hoping to shake off the rust of their second straight loss in time as they welcome Bayern Munich to France for the champions league next.
