Former Manchester United defender Rafael salvaged a 1-1 draw with an 85th minute equalizer for Olympique Lyonnais at 10-man AS Monaco in Ligue 1 action on Friday.
The 25-year-old rightback, who spent seven years at Old Trafford and won three Premier League titles, came to the rescue as Monaco failed to hang on to their 39th-minute lead.
Croatian international Mario Pasalic poached the opening goal for the home side six minutes before half-time following a corner from Thomas Lemar and a mistake by Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
Photo: AFP
The 20-year-old Pasalic, who is on loan from English champions Chelsea, planted his header past the embarrassed Lopes and put Leonardo Jardim’s side in front.
Monaco, who came into the match with a record of 10 victories and five draws against Lyon, appeared to be well on their way to improving that statistic before Rafael’s first goal for the club.
The task for Monaco to protect their lead was compromised with 24 minutes left when Brazilian defender Wallace was shown a straight red card for a horror tackle on Algerian winger Rachid Ghezzal.
Then came Rafael’s equalizer and a welcome boost for Hubert Fournier’s men, who now travel to Russia on Tuesday and a key Champions League tie against Zenit St Petersburg.
Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain were to put their undefeated start to the season on the line in yesterday afternoon’s match at SC Bastia while Angers SCO and Stade Malherbe Caen, who are the surprise rivals to Laurent Blanc’s side and five points back, are also on the road.
Promoted Angers travel to fourth-from-bottom Toulouse, while Normandy outfit Caen travel to the Champagne region and a fixture against Stade de Reims.
Marseille will have a section of their Velodrome stadium closed to supporters, following crowd trouble in the league match against Lyon last month.
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