Monaco held at home by Evian

Published January 13, 2015

Fontvieille, Monaco (SportsNetwork.com) - AS Monaco failed to collect three points for the second consecutive league match on Friday after being held to a 1-1 draw against Evian at the Stade Louis II.

After suffering their first league defeat of the season last time out, a 2-0 setback against Lille, the principality club came out on the front foot on Friday, but fell behind on a moment of skill from Evian 20 minutes in.

Modou Sougou got Evian's scoring play started with an excellent through ball behind the Monaco defense for Daniel Wass, who fired it past goalkeeper Danijel Subasic to give the visitors the early lead.

But Monaco responded with the equalizing goal, just seven minutes later when Radamel Falcao got in behind the Evian back line and ripped a low shot that beat Evian 'keeper Jesper Hansen to the far post.

Monaco had the better of the play in the second half, keeping 70 percent of the ball, but the club only managed two shots on goal and rarely threatened the Evian goal in the second 45 minutes, dropping points for the second time this season.

Evian improves to 16 points with the result, while Monaco remains in third place in Ligue 1 on 26 points.

Defending Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain highlight the weekend's action as the club will shoot for its second straight victory and to keep its unbeaten start to the season alive when it faces Nice at the Parc des Princes.

Last time out in league play, the champions cruised to a comfortable 4-0 thrashing of Lorient on Nov. 1. PSG grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck early on and would not let go as Lucas Moura scored just three minutes in.

Jeremy Menez made it 2-0 in the 39th minute and Edinson Cavani scored a third for Les Parisiens as they took a 3-0 lead into the intermission.

After the break, Cavani completed his double nine minutes from time as PSG rolled to their eighth victory of the season.

Nice will certainly give PSG all it can handle as the club will be desperate to break a two-match losing streak in league play following defeats to Bordeaux and Bastia.

Also on Saturday in France, Bastia will go in search of a rebound performance as the club hosts Rennes at the Stade de la Route de Lorient following a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Reims last week.

Lille will enter its matchup with newcomers Guingamp riding some momentum after the side's best win of the season last week when they knocked off powerhouse Monaco behind a pair of goals from Nolan Roux. Guingamp will look to get back on the winning track after a 2-0 loss to Lyon last Sunday.

Elsewhere, Lorient welcomes Reims to the Stade du Moustoir, while Toulouse hosts Ajaccio at the Stade Municipal de Toulouse. Saturday's final fixture sees Valenciennes battle Montpellier at the Stade du Hainaut.

On Sunday, Marseille hopes to continue its climb up the table against Socahux at the Velodrome, while Bordeaux hosts Nantes.

In the weekend's final matchup, St. Etienne welcomes Lyon to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard hoping to extend its unbeaten streak in league play to four straight matches.

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