PARIS: Monaco claimed a 2-1 victory over Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday for a second straight Ligue 1 win to put their disappointing start to the season behind them.

Philippe Clement’s side only won one of their first five league matches this term but have bounced back since a 4-2 home loss to Troyes, beating Nice last weekend and Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League in midweek. Lyon suffered a second defeat of the week after losing their unbeaten record against Lorient on Wednesday.

Both teams squandered several chances in the first half, before Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile put the hosts ahead in the 55th minute by heading home Caio Henrique’s corner. The Brazilian provided the second goal from another set-piece eight minutes later, as Guillermo Maripan glanced home his inswinging free-kick.

Lyon got themselves back into the game late on with Karl Toko Ekambi’s fourth goal of the campaign, but Monaco held on to move up to seventh in the table.

Earlier, Lorient continued their fine season by climbing into fourth place with a 3-2 home win over Nantes.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2022