Akliouche, Balogun fire Monaco to 3-2 win over Marseille

AS Monaco beat Marseille 3-2 on Saturday to move top of Ligue 1, thanks to a brace from French midfielder Maghnes Akliouche and a powerful strike from United States striker Folarin Balogun.

Marseille appointed Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso this week but he could not earn a debut victory and his side remained eighth in the table after their second defeat of the season.

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Marseille took the lead 30 seconds into the game when Iliman Ndiaye's goal caught the hosts off guard, only for them to respond minutes later when midfielder Akliouche fired a low shot past Pau Lopez.

The visitors regained the lead in the 18th minute when Ndiaye centred for Samuel Gigot to fire a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Philipp Kohn, only for Monaco to equalise five minutes later as Akliouche's through ball reached Balogun who found the net with a fierce finish.

The Principality side sealed the win in the second half with another great strike from Akliouche.

"No, you can't be happy when you lose, that's for sure. We need to do better, we conceded three goals that we could have avoided. These are the little things we need to improve on," Gattuso told Canal Plus.

"I've seen a lot of commitment from the players and that makes me happy. I saw some good things but we need to improve. It would have been a lot better if we hadn't had the Europa League, we don't have much time, so we'll just have to manage," he added.

Monaco face Reims while Marseille take on Le Havre next week after hosting Brighton & Hove Albion in the Europa League on Thursday.