Monaco remontada upsets Ligue 1 leaders Lens
AS Monaco scored three goals in just 10 minutes as they came from two goals down to beat Ligue 1 McDonald's leaders RC Lens (2-3).
Sage's men looked to do the double
In each of their last two games against Monaco, Lens have scored four goals, and they quickly got their first of the game here. The sell-out Bollaert crowd only had to wait three minutes for their first goal, and what a goal it was. Florian Thauvin dinked a delicate chip into the box, headed by Adrien Thomasson, into the path of Odsonne Édouard, whose first-time volley beat Philipp Kohn (3').
Lens pushed to double their lead, and despite forcing Kohn into a couple of simple saves, it was Monaco who would have the better chances before the break. Folarin Balogun had a glorious chance to equalise, latching onto Mamadou Coulibaly's miscontrol after Jordan Teze's chip had played him in on goal. It was Balogun who instead latched onto it, thundering a half-volley straight at Robin Risser (21'), who pulled off an excellent save, in front of the eyes of France goalkeeper coach Franck Riviot, in attendance to watch the potential future-France international.
9th Ligue 1 goal for Édouard ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EyOUmQG3kG
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) February 21, 2026
The USMNT forward then would have been disappointed not to have hit the target minutes later when he got on the end of a Krépin Diatta cross (26'), but his header was high and wide, and to rub salt into the wound, Diatta was forced off having injured his thigh in that exact action.
By the time half-time arrived, it was the Principality club who were in the ascendancy, but the best chance would fall to Lens. Any touch from Matthieu Udol would have been enough to double the score from Allan Saint-Maximin's pull-back, but he couldn't reach it on the stretch (45+1').
At half-time, Pierre Sage said that he called for his side to be "more aggressive", and his instruction was heeded as Lens reasserted their dominance and then got the goal to show for it through Thauvin. The France international was well placed to pick up the pieces after Malang Sarr's effort was parried straight into his path by Kohn (56'). Having beaten the Principality club at the Stade Louis II earlier in the season, Sage's side looked on course to do the double.
Fati off the bench and on the scoresheet
But then came the remontada. Balogun halved the deficit, with his shot to the near post crawling under Risser (62'). Then came a thumping header from captain Denis Zakaria from a Caio Henrique cross (70'). And finally - and decisively - the goal from Ansu Fati, fresh off the bench, who capitalised from a mix-up in the Lens defence, bore down on goal and chipped Risser (72').
Monaco would have anticipated a barrage on their goal, and whilst that ultimately did not come to pass, they were nonetheless reliant on a last-ditch block from Lamine Camara, who denied Rayan Fofana, whose effort was goal-bound (80').
It is a result that puts Monaco right back in the race for European football. They now have 10 points from a possible 12 in their last four games in Ligue 1 McDonald's. Lens, however, are now vulnerable, and will need a favour from Metz tonight, when they face second-placed side PSG.
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