Paris Saint-Germain’s challenging start to the domestic campaign persisted with a 2-1 defeat at the Parc des Princes against Monaco. The reigning European champions took an early lead but were ultimately unable to prevent Monaco from moving to the top of the Ligue 1 standings.
Before the opening whistle, PSG confirmed that head coach Luis Enrique has signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2030. Despite this stability, the team enters their upcoming Champions League campaign—beginning next midweek against Slovan Bratislava—struggling to find form. After three matches, PSG sits seven points behind league leaders Monaco with just two points.
PSG’s captain, Marquinhos, broke the deadlock in the 31st minute by chesting home a cross from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The hosts appeared to be cruising toward their first league win of the season, especially given the turbulent week endured by their opponents.
Monaco arrived in Paris amid internal chaos. The club had anticipated significant player sales to stabilize their finances after failing to qualify for the Champions League. However, their plans were disrupted when United States star Folarin Balogun withdrew from an agreed £40 million ($54 million) transfer to Everton on deadline day. Balogun, noted for a previous controversy where US President Donald Trump intervened to overturn a FIFA red card during the World Cup, was omitted from the squad and has yet to feature this season.
Despite these setbacks, the visitors displayed resilience. After a strong start to the second half, they equalized in the 58th minute when Portuguese defender Flavio Nazinho headed in a cross from Jordan Teze. Monaco completed the comeback in the 72nd minute, with Aleksandr Golovin setting up Stanis Idumbo, who struck past goalkeeper Matvey Safonov at his near post.
This marks the second consecutive season that PSG has suffered a home loss to Monaco. Late substitutions, including the introduction of reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and Spain’s World Cup standout Ferran Torres, failed to spark a recovery. A late effort from Torres was disallowed for offside, and Dembele was subsequently denied by a brilliant save from Lukas Hradecky in stoppage time.
The Qatar-owned club’s domestic struggles follow a difficult run of results. While they defeated Aston Villa last month to claim the UEFA Super Cup, they fell to Lens in the French Champions Trophy and recorded consecutive draws against Rennes and Lille. In those earlier fixtures, PSG required late comebacks, including a last-gasp equalizer from Marquinhos against Lille.
Elsewhere in the division, Lyon secured a 3-1 victory over Auxerre, moving into second place. They currently sit two points behind Monaco, tied on points with Lille, who managed a 1-0 win at Toulouse on Thursday thanks to a goal from Ayase Ueda. The report also notes that however, they will do so off the back of a stuttering start domestically, with just two points on the board three games into their latest Ligue 1 title defence — that leaves them seven points behind Monaco already. The report also notes that the Brazilian defender, PSG’s captain, opened the scoring here on 31 minutes when he converted Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s ball across the face of goal with his chest. The report also notes that now coached by Brazilian ex-Atletico Madrid defender Filipe Luis, had been hoping to make a big sale to the Premier League before the transfer window closed to offset failing to qualify for this season’s Champions League, the principality side. The report also notes that when they were banking on Balogun finalising his move, that was just after Monaco had pulled out of a deal to sell Lamine Camara to Chelsea.
