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Monaco Come Back to Stun PSG after Mbappe Double

Cesc Fabregas scored a late penalty spot winner as Monaco scored two goals against Paris Saint-impressive Germain's 3-2 champions in Ligue 1 on Friday.

Kylian Mbappe had scored a first-half brace, including a penalty, against his former side, bringing him 99 goals for the PSG, leaving his new team obviously on track for a ninth consecutive league victory, reports AFP.

However after the break, German international Kevin Volland hit Monaco twice, and Fabregas turned from 12 yards to 84 minutes after Abdou Diallo had been sent off for granting an all-important penalty.

PSG remains clear at the top of Ligue 1, but this result is a big setback for Thomas Tuchel's team ahead of the crucial Champions League tie against RB Leipzig next week.

"I am more surprised than I am angry," said Tuchel, who was also disappointed to see further first-half goals for Mbappe and Moise Kean disallowed.

"I saw two totally different halves. First of all, we completely controlled the game...and then the second half was completely different. I can only say it is our responsibility."

Niko Kovac's Monaco climb up to second in the table, four points behind PSG, but Lille can reclaim second spot and move to within two points of the leaders if they beat Lorient on Sunday.

"If you come back from two down to win 3-2 it is for sure something special, but I don't want to glorify it too much," said ex-Bayern Munich coach Kovac.

"We cannot stop and say everything is done. It was a big victory but nothing more."

PSG have been severely handicapped by injuries and suspensions this season, and Neymar was only deemed fit enough for a place on the bench at kick-off at the Stade Louis II after missing Brazil's World Cup qualifiers over the last week due to fitness problems.

- Volland stars –

Mbappe was back in the starting line-up, however, despite missing the last two outings of his team before the international break with a hamstring injury.

Faced with his former side, with whom he won the Ligue 1 title in 2017, Mbappe broke through to bring Paris in the lead in the 25th minute after Angel Di Maria was released.

Then in the 37th minute, he found the net again, converting the penalty awarded to Youssouf Fofana for a foul on Rafinha.

His ninth goal of the season leaves him just one away from a century of goals in a PSG shirt since his arrival from Monaco at the start of 2017/18 in a 180 million-euro ($213m) deal. He even had another goal disallowed just before half-time.

Without their French international striker, Wissam Ben Yedder, having tested positive for coronavirus, it was a long way back for Monaco, but they reduced the deficit seven minutes after half-time when Gelson Martins set up Volland to close the gap.

Volland then matched the tap-in after Fabregas, as a backup, beat goaltender Keylor Navas to the cross.

Worse was to come for the visitors, as Diallo -- another former Monaco player -- clumsily conceded a penalty and was shown a red card after the referee opted to review the images.

Fabregas made no mistake from the spot, as PSG lost a Ligue 1 game after leading by two goals for just the second time since the Qatari takeover of the club in 2011.

For their Champions League rematch with Chelsea, Rennes warmed up earlier in the worst possible fashion, going down to a 1-0 home loss at the hands of Bordeaux.

The only goal of the game against his old club was scored by Hatem Ben Arfa, as Rennes slipped to fifth before hosting Chelsea in a match that they desperately need to win to keep their chances of making the last 16 Champions League alive.

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Topic : Sports Football

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