Nine-man Monaco held to pulsating 2-2 draw at Marseille

Updated: Jan 27, 2024, 10:36 pm

Marseille held nine-men AS Monaco to an entertaining 2-2 home draw on Saturday as the visitors failed to win for the second Ligue 1 game in a row.

Gennaro Gattuso's Marseille climbed to sixth place on 29 points as Monaco remained fourth on 34, level with Stade Brestois who visit leaders Paris St Germain on Sunday.

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Monaco grabbed the lead after seven minutes when Aleksandr Golovin set up Wissam Ben Yedder with a superb lobbed through ball from which the captain coolly slotted home.

The visitors, however, were dealt a huge blow four minutes later as defender Guillermo Maripan received a red card for tripping Marseille's Vitinha.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalised for Marseille in the 38th minute, pouncing on a rebound off the post after Vitinha's shot with a close-range tap-in.

Maghnes Akliouche restored the lead for Monaco seconds before halftime after a fast break, only for Leonardo Balerdi to level in the 50th minute with a stunning long-range shot that sparked the Stade Velodrome back to life.

Monaco looked to threaten on the counter-attack but their hopes of victory faded when they were reduced to nine men in the 86th minute after Denis Zakaria's second yellow card.