Monaco salvages draw against Reims in Kovac's first game in charge

Monaco found itself trailing 2-0 after 21 minutes but central defenders Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile redeemed themselves by scoring to pull the home side level.

Published : Aug 23, 2020 19:40 IST

Stade de Reims' Boulaye Dia celebrates scoring against Monaco.
Stade de Reims' Boulaye Dia celebrates scoring against Monaco.
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Stade de Reims' Boulaye Dia celebrates scoring against Monaco.

Monaco rallied from two goals down to salvage a point in a 2-2 home draw against Stade de Reims in its first game under new coach Nico Kovac in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Hoping to find some stability after using five coaches in two years, Monaco found itself trailing 2-0 after 21 minutes following goals by Boulaye Dia and El Bilal Toure.

But Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile, who both had a catastrophic start in central defence, scored either side of the interval as Monaco stepped up a gear.

Angers, the only team with a win so far, is the early leader after the 2020-21 season started on Friday.

There was no Ligue 1 matches for five months as the 2019-2020 season was abandoned because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Dia outpaced Badiashile and beat Benjamin Lecomte with a low crossed shot in the fifth minute to give the visitors an early advantage.

The visitor doubled the tally 16 minutes later when Toure made the most of a defensive misunderstanding between Disasi and Badiashile.

Monaco, however, pulled one back on the stroke of halftime as Disasi headed home from point blank range.

The host equalised 10 minutes into the second half when Badiashile netted with an angled shot from Aleksandr Golovin's free kick.

Champion Paris St. Germain and Olympique Lyonnais's respective season-openers were postponed after both teams reached the Champions League semifinal.

PSG will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final later on Sunday.

Olympique de Marseille's home game against St Etienne, which was scheduled for Friday, was postponed after four OM players tested positive for the coronavirus.

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