Anthony Martial scored an injury-time equalizer for AS Monaco as a tired looking and injury stricken Paris Saint-Germain were held 1-1 at the Parc des Princes on Sunday, their sixth draw in nine French league games.
PSG had been playing out the game after a Lucas Moura 70th-minute strike looked likely to deliver a much needed win to the defending champions.
However, fans watched in horror as Brazilian defender David Luiz lamely tapped the ball into Martial’s path deep into injury-time and the 18-year-old made no mistake.
Runaway leaders Olympique de Marseille now have 22 points after their seventh straight win on Saturday, 2-1 away at Stade Malherbe Caen Calvados, Girondins de Bordeaux, who lost 1-0 at Stade de Reims, have 17 points while PSG, LOSC Lille Metropole and Nantes are all on 15.
The game had seemed set for a 0-0 deadlock, with PSG drained from a thrilling 3-2 win over Barcelona in the Champions League midweek and Monaco, having earned a hard-fought draw at Zenit St Petersburg, also jaded.
However, an unmarked Moura side-footed home from the edge of the six-yard box in the 70th minute after fine work from man-of-the-match Javier Pastore.
The first half was uneventful until Maxwell’s cross on 37 minutes went begging as a sluggish Edinson Cavani arrived slightly late for a simple nod in.
PSG were left to thank Salvatore Sirigu’s reflexes after he then finger-tipped a Yannick Ferreira Carrasco snap-shot onto the crossbar on 43 minutes to hold the score to 0-0 at halftime.
Veteran Zoumana Camara and Luiz were kept busy, but were never panicked by the Monaco forward line.
Pastore put Cavani in just before the hour with a deft through-ball, only to see the Uruguayan run through with perfect timing and miss the ball completely.
Defender Andrea Raggi thought he had scored a few moments later, but Gregory van der Weil appeared from nowhere to clear off the line with Sirugu on the floor.
Earlier on Sunday, Olympique Lyonnais cruised to a 3-0 victory over Lille at their Stade Gerland, thanks to a hat-trick from France international striker Alexandre Lacazette.
AS Saint-Etienne could have climbed to second place above Bordeaux with a home win, but lost 1-0 at home to Toulouse thanks to Wissam Ben Yedder’s sixth Ligue 1 goal this season.
Saint-Etienne have suffered two defeats and a draw in their past three league outings.
Also on Sunday, Nantes teenager Georges-Kivin Nkoudou grabbed the winner that took the Canaries up to fifth after edging En Avant de Guingamp 1-0 in the Brittany derby.
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