Folarin Balogun had a strong outing for Monaco as they returned to the top of the Ligue 1 standings with a come-from-behind win over Metz.
Monaco 2-1 Metz
The league leaders received an early shock from Metz but didn’t let it phase them as they fought their way back to take all three points with their win at Stade Louis II.
Folarin Balogun returned to the starting lineup for the Red and Whites following international duty for the United States as he played 89 minutes, completing 81 percent of his passes, winning four duels, and making three key passes along with a shot on target.
The hosts got sucker punched four minutes into the contest when Metz scored a wonder goal. An errant pass from the Monaco backline saw Lamine Camara pounce and send a long-range shot from his team’s end over the head of goalkeeper Philipp Kohn, who was out of position, and into the goal.
Monaco was not deterred by the early deficit as they started to build their way back to finding the equalizer. They found it in the 42nd minute when Chrislain Matsima played the ball to Aleksandr Golovin, allowing the Russian to unleash his own long-range effort that hit the back of the net.
Golovin’s day was not over as the hosts maintained their momentum in the second half. Takumi Minamino was brought down outside of the 18-yard box which gave his team a free-kick. The Russian midfielder then stepped up to deliver the game-winner as his curler beat Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja at his left post.
The win puts Monaco back at the summit with 20 points, one ahead of Nice and two up on defending champions PSG.
Note
Emmanuel Sabbi started and played 76 minutes for Le Havre as their game with Lens ended 0-0.
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