Monaco extended their unbeaten home run to 10 games after a late Eric Dier penalty earned them a 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Despite looking lively in the opening exchanges, the hosts were caught out by a predatory finish from Erling Haaland on 14 minutes. It looked like the bounce from Josko Gvardiol’s through ball might ruin the shooting chance, but the City striker adjusted to lift the ball over Philipp Kohn and into the net to score for an eighth successive game for club and country.
Monaco didn’t allow their heads to drop, however, and struck back just three minutes later. It didn’t look like anything was on for Jordan Teze 25 yards from goal, but he was able to unleash a rocket that swerved away from Gianluigi Donnarumma and settled in the top corner.
From that moment on, it was the visitors who controlled the half, with Phil Foden smacking the crossbar while Haaland was unable to pounce on a loose ball from a tight angle.
Just when it looked like Monaco had withstood the pressure, Nico O'Reilly’s hanging cross was met by Haaland, who engineered enough power to guide the ball past Kohn and into the bottom corner.
The hosts appeared invigorated after the break and looked more threatening in attack as a result. Maghnes Akliouche, in particular, was proving dangerous coming in from the right, and he forced an outstanding save from Donnarumma with a sizzling, angled shot.
Instead of pushing for a third goal, Pep Guardiola’s side stunted the hosts’ momentum by prioritising possession, but they were denied by the woodwork again as Tijjani Reijnders fired against the crossbar from distance.
Just when it looked like the hosts had run out of ideas, Dier was caught in the face by Nico Gonzalez in the box, and with both sides engaging in a fracas in the background, a VAR review resulted in the penalty being given.
Dier dusted himself down to take the resultant penalty, and coolly tucked it home to give Monaco their first point of the group phase, while City are now winless in five UCL away games.
Key stats
- Manchester City have scored in their last 6 games in the UEFA Champions League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 18 games from November 2nd, 2022 to April 17th, 2024
- Erling Haaland had just seven touches in the first half, with two of them resulting in goals
- Monaco have failed to win in their last five games in the UEFA Champions League, their last longer winless streak was from May 3rd, 2017 to December 11th, 2018, a run of 14 games
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jordan Teze (Monaco)