MONACO — Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) recovered from a shambolic start as Desire Doue inspired a comeback from two goals down to beat Monaco, 3-2, in the principality in the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase playoff tie on Tuesday.
United States star Folarin Balogun opened the scoring after just 55 seconds and found the net again on 18 minutes to put Monaco in control against their French Ligue 1 rivals at the Stade Louis II.
Vitinha then missed a chance for the reigning European champions to reduce the deficit when he had a penalty saved and last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele came off injured before the half-hour mark, but his replacement Doue sparked the comeback.
He scored and then helped set up Achraf Hakimi for the equalizer just before the break, and Monaco then had Aleksandr Golovin sent off right at the start of the second half. Doue then got the winner on 67 minutes.
“He is an incredible player and a different player. I am very pleased for him because he deserved it,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told broadcaster Canal Plus.
“There is pressure on us to win, and we like that pressure, but there are difficult moments in games that are hard to overcome,” he added.
The result keeps the tie alive going into the return leg in Paris next Wednesday, but PSG are now strong favorites to seal a place in the last 16.
They came into this game having been knocked off top spot in the French league last weekend following a defeat at Rennes, with Lens replacing them at the summit.
However, they are a huge 20 points clear of Monaco, who find themselves languishing in eighth due to an inability to put together a consistent run of form.