Lopes caps Monaco comeback with win

PARIS: Rony Lopes struck a dramatic late winner as Monaco recovered from two goals down and overcame the first-half dismissal of Keita Balde to stun Lyon 3-2 in Ligue 1 on Sunday. Mariano Diaz scored a 12th-minute opener for Lyon at the Stade Louis II as his deflected shot from distance deceived Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, who hobbled off injured after tangling with the net. Lyon doubled their lead before the half-hour as Bertrand Traore, making his first league start since early November, volleyed in at the near post past replacement keeper Seydou Sy. But Senegal international Balde held off a succession of defenders before rifling in a low angled drive to halve the deficit just three minutes later. Radamel Falcao then equalised on 36 minutes when he converted the rebound after seeing his penalty, awarded for a foul on Kamil Glik, saved initially by Anthony Lopes. It took the Colombian to 17 league goals for the season — trailing only Paris Saint-Germain duo Edinson Cavani (21) and Neymar (18). But Monaco were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time as Balde, booked moments earlier for kicking away the ball in frustration, was shown a second yellow card for a nasty foul on Ferland Mendy.