Monaco close on leaders with Montpellier thrashing

Monaco moved to within a point of Ligue 1 leaders Nice after coming from behind to claim an emphatic 6-2 win over struggling Montpellier.La Tefece shocked their hosts early on in superb style when Ryad Boudebouz's perfectly-weighted free-kick sent Danijel Subasic the wrong way to hand the visitors a surprise ninth-minute lead.And that goal could easily have been the Algerian's second had his poor control moments before not given Subasic the chance to make a smart save.Despite that early joy, Montpellier handed the hosts a perfect chance to level after 36 minutes when Kylian Mbappe was brought down inside the area by Ellyes Shkiri.Radamel Falcao grabbed that opportunity with both hands as he slotted home from 12 yards on his return from injury, levelling up the game going into the interval.Monaco took the lead a few minutes after the restart when Bernardo Silva's delivery from the left found Mbappe at the back post and his downward header beat Geoffrey Jourdren at his post.However, Montpellier levelled from the penalty spot just after the hour mark, when Boudebouz scored his second of the night after Benjamin Mendy had fouled Souleymane Camara.Parity for the visitors lasted a matter of minutes, though, with Thomas Lemar's free-kick eventually falling for Jemerson to fire home at the back post.And the three points for the hosts were guaranteed when Valere Germain netted on the counter before Lemar made it 5-2, with more than 10 minutes still to play, when he latched on to Jourdren's punched clearance to hammer home.There was still time for Leonardo Jardim's men to add a sixth when Jourdren parried Gabriel Boschilia's effort into the path of Adama Traore to score from an acute angle.