Second-half substitute Lamine Camara struck deep into injury time as Monaco beat Montpellier 2-1 on Saturday to pull level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Monaco celebrated the club’s centenary in their Louis-II Stadium with a thrilling victory as Senegalese midfielder Camara, who had come off the bench in the 67th minute, finished off a cross from captain Denis Zakaria.
The victory is a boost before Monaco’s Champions League trip to Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday. It allows the Principality side move level on 16 points with leaders PSG after six games.
“I’m very happy with the victory in front of all these former Monegasque stars, including Arsene Wenger,” said coach Adi Huetter.
“We saw everyone’s emotion when the goal was scored. It’s a great victory, in front of our supporters, former coaches and former players.”
Decked out in black to commemorate Monaco’s original 1924 jersey, Adi Hutter’s side were trailing after 16 minutes to Rabby Nzingoula’s first Ligue 1 goal.
Montpellier goalkeeper Dimitry Bertaud made two exceptional saves denying Breel Embolo then Denis Zakaria as Monaco continued to push.
US forward Folarin Balogun grabbed the equaliser after 32 minutes finishing off an Embolo cross.
Hutter brought on substitute Camara midway through the second half to give his team impetus.
Montpellier forward Tanguy Coulibaly’s sending off in the 90th minute for a second yellow card had repercussions.
The hosts’ pressing paid off when Camara broke through in the eighth minute of injury time to deny Montpellier a precious point. They slid to third from bottom of the league.
Earlier, Lille ended a series of five matches without a win as they warmed up for their Champions League game against Spanish giants Real Madrid with a 3-0 victory over Le Havre.
Canadian striker Jonathan David scored all three goals to pull the northerners up to fourth with 10 points.
David got his first past Arthur Desmas after 23 minutes and added a second in the 35th minute.
A perfect cross from Edon Zhegrova allowed David to nod in the third after 79 minutes.
In the final minutes, Desmas limited the damaged by stopping a weak Angel Gomes penalty.
Elsewhere, Nice coach Franck Haise’s return to Lens where he coached until a few months ago ended in a goalless draw.
Lens are fifth two points ahead of sixth-placed Nice.
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