Pagis screamer helps Lorient beat ten-man Monaco
AS Monaco missed a chance to go top of the Ligue 1 McDonald's table away to Lorient on Saturday, falling to the Bretons after having a man sent off. Catch up on the action with our match report.
Short-handed Monaco reduced to ten
Despite having finished last weekend top of Ligue 1 McDonald's, this match was always going to be a difficult one for the Principality side. Missing no less than five injured central midfielders (Denis Zakaria, Lamine Camara, Aladji Bamba, Paul Pogba and Aleksandr Golovin) as well as the ill Maghnes Akliouche, Adi Hütter's side would face a stiff test despite the hosts' often shaky defence.
Playing in a 3-4-1-2 with Jordan Teze and Mamadou Coulibaly a makeshift central partnership, Monaco struggled in the early going to put their foot on the ball, and Les Merlus were only too eager to test Philipp Köhn, himself a replacement for Lucas Hradecky. Théo Le Bris tested Köhn twice in the early going, and Monaco had no response prior to an attempted lob by Takumi Minamino close to the break. Moments later, though, disaster struck as Thilo Kehrer was sent off for a second booking, and Lorient would soon take the lead through Mohamed Bamba, who fired in a superb near-post volley to put his side ahead (40')
PABLO PAGIS SECURES HIS BRACE WITH A BANGER 💥 pic.twitter.com/3t247mRFaC
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) September 27, 2025
Pagis off the bench and at the double
Into the second half, Lorient pushed for more, with both Bamba and Aiyegun Tosin testing Köhn but it was finally substitute Pablo Pagis who doubled the lead, coming off the bench to net on 76' before scoring a brilliant second from range (82') to make it 3-0. Also on off the bench, Monaco's Ansu Fati would score his third Ligue 1 goal in two matches from the penalty spot in added time, but Lorient's lead was never in any real danger, and the match would finish as a 3-1 home win.
Having missed the chance to go top of the division, the Monégasques will attempt to pick themselves up on Wednesday in the Champions League as they host Manchester City. As for Lorient, the result sees them edge away from the bottom three before a tricky trip to face fellow promoted side Paris FC on Friday.
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