UCL: Ten-man Monaco fall at the death to Benfica
A strong start
It would be the former Paris Saint-Germain man who would have the first chance of the match, fizzing a shot past Radoslaw Majecki's goal. The hosts were quick to respond though, with both Eliesse Ben Seghir and Denis Zakaria and having chances as well, and it wouldn't take long for the teenage Moroccan international to open the scoring, slotting the ball home with just thirteen minutes on the clock. Just two minutes later, Benfica had the ball in the net, but the offside flag came up.
From there, the match dipped in intensity, but only slightly, and the last third of the half was a flurry of chances from both ends. Ben Seghir came close and defender Wilfried Singo had to make an important block against Alvaro Carreras. Majecki was called into action again to deny, in succession, Di María on a one-on-one and to stop a header from Nicolás Otamendi. Halftime would come with Monaco holding the lead, but Benfica leveled just after the interval, with Vangelis Pavlidis netting after a mix-up at the back.
MONACO 2-1 BENFICA ⚽️
Magassa off the bench, on the scoresheet 🤩 pic.twitter.com/pI5qoidjJD— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) November 27, 2024
Singo sees red
After conceding the equalizer, things looked set to get worse for the Monégasques, as Singo was sent off for a second booking just before the hour mark, in the wake of each team having a goal ruled out for offside. Playing with ten men seemed to matter little to Adi Hütter, though, as he urged his side on, with another academy product -- midfielder Sougountou Magassa -- finding the net with twenty minutes left. Monaco, urged on by a baying home crowd, looked for a third, and fit-again Folarin Balogun came close at a corner, but the visitors would turn the match on its head in the span of four minutes.
Di María showed his class with an inch-perfect cross for Cabral before setting up Zeki Amdouni for the winner two minutes from time. It was a gutting end for Monaco, who remain eighth in the competition, and will look to rebound in Sunday's big clash against Olympique de Marseille, the marquee fixture of Matchday 13 in Ligue 1 McDonald's.
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