Monaco thrash Lille, Nice claw back in Ligue 1

AS Monaco FC showed no mercy against Lille OSC as the Ligue 1 defending champions won 4-0, while OGC Nice had to battle back from two goals down to earn one point against Angers SCO in the top division of French football.

Monaco have positioned themselves as the toughest rivals to beat this season for big-spending Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). New recruits Stevan Jovetic and Rachid Ghezzal earned visiting Monaco a two-goal cushion before half-time on Friday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.

Jovetic, who joined from Inter Milan during the off-season, collected the ball on Anwar El Ghazi's poor clearance before turning and firing his first league goal for Monaco in the 24th minute.

Ghezzal, a former Lyon winger, grasped another mistake in Lille's defence to double the visitors' lead six minutes later, as he put Almamy Toure's right-flank low cross into the net.

Radamel Falcao displayed his intimidating arsenal following former attacking partner Kylian Mbappe's departure. The Colombian striker scored a brace in the second half, one from a header after Rony Lopes' shot was blocked by goalkeeper Mike Maignan, the other on a spot kick.

Falcao has netted 11 league goals in seven matches, the first player in European top five leagues to have tallied over 10 goals.

Monaco tied Paris Saint-Germain on 18 points, while sitting second due to inferior goal difference. PSG, who have kept a perfect record in the opening six rounds, will visit Montpellier on Saturday.

Lille have gone six games without a win in the last six matches, piling up huge pressure on their Argentine head coach Marcelo Bielsa, nicknamed "Crazy Coach" for his passion and fervour for an attacking style.

Nice had to face a 2-0 deficit after 34 minutes, as Mateo Pavlovic and Karl Toto Ekambi's goals boosted Angers' chance of taking away three points at the Allianz Riviera.

Mario Balotelli kicked off the hosts' comeback with a spot kick on 39 minutes, his sixth goal in all competitions of the season.

Ismael Traore wasted Angers' efforts for a road victory due to his own goal in the 76th minute. Nice provisionally moved up to sixth place.

--IANS

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