Ligue 1 leaders Monaco held by Lille in stalemate

PARIS: French Ligue 1 leaders Monaco had a man sent off in a frustrating 0-0 draw with Lille on Friday.

The result moved Monaco to 20 points, three ahead of champions Paris-Saint Germain who host Strasbourg on Saturday.

Monaco had to play a man down for the last 30 minutes after Dutch international Jordan Teze was red-carded for an ugly challenge on Gabriel Gudmundsson.

Despite being outnumbered, Monaco continued to press for a winner with Maghnes Akliouche setting up Denis Zakaria but his injury-time strike was well-saved by Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.

Monaco sorely missed American star Folarin Balogun who faces a long stretch on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. “We lost two points this evening, but I saw a very good performance from our team,” said Monaco coach Adi Huetter.

“We were the best side on the pitch and we deserved victory. We remain undefeated and it´s a good point for us.”

However, Friday was the first time this season that Monaco had failed to score.

“Chevalier made a very good save and we must not forget that Monaco are still developing. We can´t always win. Our team is young.”

Huetter did admit there are concerns over striker Breel Embolo who has yet to find the net.

“We have to work on that. There may be doubts but he was very good tonight. We have to give him confidence. We have to keep confidence in him,” added the coach whose team are next in action on Tuesday at home to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League. Lille are now fourth in the table, six points behind the leaders.

However, coach Bruno Genesio hit out at his team, claiming “nothing worked” and the players “did not do what was expected”. “I pity the TV viewers,” said Genesio. “We salvaged a point thanks to Lucas Chevalier.

“This is not what I want to see from my team. I do not want to exaggerate, but I think that there are sometimes defeats which are more encouraging than this match.”