Georges-Kevin Nkoudou struck a late equalizer for Olympique de Marseille in a pulsating 3-3 draw at home to AS Monaco at the Stade Velodrome on Sunday.
Marseille, who have not won at home in Ligue 1 since mid-September, went in front early through Romain Alessandrini, but Almamy Toure equalized shortly after, before scoring again just prior to half-time.
Michy Batshuayi was on target for the visitors, leveling the score six minutes after the restart.
Fabio Coentrao then put Monaco 3-2 ahead, but Nkoudou rescued a point for Marseille eight minutes from time.
The result left Monaco in seventh on 24 points, while Marseille, whose winless home run was extended to five matches, climbed one spot to 11th, five points further back.
Three wins in four, all away from home, had allowed Marseille to ease their way up the table after a dire start to the season and they made a promising start against their southern neighbors, who had lost just one of their last eight league games.
Elderson Echiejile smacked his clearance straight against teammate Andrea Raggi, with the ball dropping kindly for Alessandrini to finish past Danijel Subastic, despite a strong hand from the Croatian goalkeeper just 12 minutes in.
However, 19-year-old Toure replied for Monaco six minutes later, getting a toe on the end of Coentrao’s cross to leave Steve Mandanda helpless in the Marseille goal.
The teenage defender then netted for the second time six minutes before half-time as he controlled the ball on the halfway line and exchanged passes with Guido Carrillo before capping his marauding run with a cool finish inside Mandanda’s near post.
The lead was short-lived as Batshuayi pounced when Subasic was caught flapping from a corner on 51 minutes, leaving the Belgian striker with a simple tap-in for his 10th league goal of the campaign.
Toure went close to completing his hat-trick just before the hour, but was denied by a sharp save as Mandanda got down quickly to his right.
However, the Marseille goalkeeper was beaten again on 72 minutes as Coentrao steered a precise header just inside the far post to put the visitors on top for the second time.
However, Leonardo Jardim’s men were unable to close out a fourth win in five as Nkoudou expertly converted a scuffed shot across goal from Lucas Ocampos to earn a share of the spoils.
Earlier, Stade Malherbe Caen climbed to second after thrashing Girondins de Bordeaux 4-1.
AS Saint-Etienne bounced back from successive defeats with a 3-0 victory at home to En Avant de Guingamp courtesy of second-half goals from Romain Hamouma, Valentin Eysseric and Nolan Roux.
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