Paris Saint-Germain's perfect start to the season in Ligue 1 was halted after they were held to 1-1 draw by AS Monaco on Sunday evening.
Ligue 1
Result: Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 AS Monaco
Date: 28 August 2022
Venue: Parc des Princes
PSG made a single change from their rout of Lille, as Renato Sanches got his first start of the season in place of Vitinha in midfield and the front three of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar were retained.
Monaco did not give Christophe Galtier's charges any chance to settle in the opening exchanges, with tough tackles flying around as Neymar got under the skin of their midfielders.
Philippe Clement's troops caught PSG on a counter-attack on 20 minutes as Kevin Volland fired them ahead with a strike in the box after a through ball by Aleksandr Golovin.
The home side only got into their rhythm after the half-hour mark and were unlucky not to head to the break level with Monaco after Messi struck the post on the stroke of half-time and Mbappe was denied be the opposite post from the rebound.
The game opened up early in the second stanza as Wissam Ben Yedder had a good chance to double the lead for Monaco after goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could not time his run off the line but Ben Yedder curled his shot over the crossbar from the edge of the box.
Neymar had an almost similar chance for PSG around the hour-mark with a clear sight of of goal on the edge of box after an error by shot-stopper Alexander Nubel trying to play from the back but the Brazilian also ballooned his shot over the top.
Galtier needed fresh legs in midfield after that as Danilo replaced Sanches while the visitors refreshed their front line as Takumi Minamino replaced Maghnes Akliouche.
The Parisians had a lifeline 20 minutes before time after they were awarded a penalty for foul on Neymar by Guillermo Maripan following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review and the Brazilian levelled matters with a quality finish past the out-stretched Nubel.
PSG were pressurising Monaco in the dying minutes and Mbappe had a chance to net the winner seven minutes before time after a through ball in the box but he was denied by Nubel.
Monaco weathered the storm in the tail end and held on to the share of the spoils but a point was enough for PSG to return to the top of the table with a superior goal difference over second-placed Olympique Marseille.
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