Summary of this article
Paris Saint-Germain were stunned by Monaco to leave the Ligue 1 title race open
Maghnes Akliouche and Aleksandr Golovin had the visitors two up
Balogun made his 100th Ligue 1 appearance in this game
Paris Saint-Germain left the door open for Lens to close the gap at the top of Ligue 1 with an underwhelming 3-1 defeat to Monaco at the Parc des Princes.
Maghnes Akliouche and Aleksandr Golovin had the visitors two up and, although Bradley Barcola reduced the deficit, Folarin Balogun made sure of Monaco's win in what was the 100th meeting between the two in Ligue 1.
Denis Zakaria wastefully put a header wide and Akliouche curled one past the left post as Monaco had a couple of early testers, before Nuno Mendes dragged wide for PSG.
The visitors took the lead in the 27th minute when Zakaria dispossessed Warren Zaire-Emery in the penalty area and Balogun laid off for Akliouche to finish from close range off the right post.
Monaco stunned PSG again in the 55th minute when Golovin found the bottom-right corner from 18 yards, and he nearly made it 3-0 with an arrowed effort towards the top-right corner that Matvei Safonov did brilliantly to tip wide.
Barcola arrowed a volley wide shortly before dragging PSG back into the game when his cushioned effort deflected home via Jordan Teze, but Balogun's long-range effort clipped off Mendes to restore Monaco's cushion just two minutes later, with PSG now just four points above Lens having played a game more.
Data Debrief: Balogun and Akliouche celebrate 100 not out in style
Balogun made his 100th Ligue 1 appearance in this game (37 with Reims, 63 with Monaco).
Since 2022-23, Balogun is the second-highest top-flight scorer in Ligue 1 (38 goals), behind Amine Gouiri (40 goals), though he contributed to just 0.02 of Monaco's 1.34 expected goals against PSG, who produced 1.09 xG.
Coincidentally, Akliouche – who had missed the last two games with injury – also racked up a century of appearances in the competition, to also celebrate the landmark with a goal.
Barcola may have ended up on the losing side, but he has now scored in three consecutive top-flight games for just the second time.
