Monaco misery deepens after second successive defeat

NANTES, France: Monaco’s problems deepened at Metz on Saturday when the 2017 champions slumped to a second successive 3-0 defeat in Ligue 1 and again finished with 10 men on the field.

New recruits Wissam Ben Yedder and Henry Onyekuru both started up front but neither striker made an impression as Monaco slipped to the foot of the table without a point.

Senegalese striker Habib Diallo, who hit 26 goals last season, gave Metz an 11th-minute lead from the penalty spot after a VAR review spotted a hand ball by Kamil Glik. Monaco’s Ruben Aguilar was then given a straight red card after 33 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Opa Nguette.

His exclusion came a week after Monaco teammate Cesc Fabregas was also sent-off in the opening 3-0 loss at home to Lyon. Diallo added his second of the night in the 54th minute with Renaud Cohade completing his team’s easy win on 67 minutes.

“We were penalised quickly by the penalty and then the red card. Maybe the VAR saw something I didn’t see,” said Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim. Last season’s runners-up Lille suffered a 1-0 defeat at neighbours Amiens after a 72nd-minute goal from Serhou Guirassy.

Lille played all of the second half a man short after Boubakary Soumare was handed a 39th-minute red card. Marseille wasted a penalty before finishing the match clinging to a 0-0 draw at Nantes.

For both teams the stalemate yielded a first point of the young season. Marseille had a chance to score their first goal of the campaign after VAR detected a handball in the home box in the 31st minute. But Argentine striker Dario Benedetto smashed the penalty kick high over the bar.