Ligue 1 leader Monaco could not do better than a draw (2-2) on Sunday in Lorient, where Benjamin Mendy, acquitted in a rape trial in July in England, set foot on the pitch again for the first time for more than two years. Targeted by several complaints for rape, attempted rape and sexual assault in England, finally acquitted after two trials, in January then last July, Mendy returned to the field for the first time since August 15, 2021, upon returning in play in the 70th minute.
The welcome of the world champion with the Blues in 2018, who arrived by surprise in Lorient in July, was expected: he returned to the cheers of the Moustoir stadium, which had already warmly welcomed his presentation before the match. And it was on a long ball from Mendy, taken by Touré then Faivre in the area, that Lorient managed to snatch a draw in added time, while Monaco seemed to have managed to turn the match around after being down 1-0 .
Thanks to Paris’ defeat against Nice on Friday, Adi Hütter’s men remain at the top of the standings with 11 points, but are notably under threat from Marseille, at 8 points. Lorient is in 11th place, the logical result of starting the season on alternating current.
The Monegasque leader was picked up cold by Lorient, who had clearly identified their weaknesses in depth, a sector where Régis Le Bris’ men regularly tried to play on the counter-attack. In two passes, Lorient immediately projected forward to find Aiyegun Tosin thanks to a nice pass from Eli Junior Kroupi. For his first start, the striker overtook Singo and deceived Philipp Kohn to open the scoring (2nd), scoring the fastest goal of the season according to statistician Opta, in 1 min and 33 seconds.
In an open match, Monaco quickly came close to being penalized, once again caught in the depths. Served by a long ball from Romain Faivre, Eli Junior Kroupi lobbed Kohn, without managing to find the goal (7th). Camping within 30 meters of the premises, the Monegasques then increased their attempts, until Lorient cracked. After a flash from Takumi Minamino, who pierced the defense in the axis of a small bridge, Youssouf Fofana offered a perfect dive ball for Golovin, who controls and pins Yvon Mvogo on the spot in stride (17th).
Despite a good reaction from Lorient at the start of the second period, it was the Monegasque offensive armada which took the upper hand. A few minutes after coming into play in place of Ben Yedder, Folarin Balogun was responsible for restoring the advantage to his team, served by Golovin (69th). The Lorientais, pushed by Moustoir, then gave everything until the final whistle. Efforts which ended up paying off at the last moment on a long ball from Benjamin Mendy, headed by the immense (2m06) Isaak Touré in the area and followed by an unstoppable volley from Faivre (90th 7).
