Monaco beat Lens to take the Ligue 1 lead — Dawn
In Monaco, Monaco defeated Lens 2:1 at Stade Louis II and moved into sole possession of first place in the French Ligue 1 table. In this match, forward Folarin Balogun made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute, Dawn reports.
Match goals
The hosts opened the scoring in the first half thanks to young German forward Paris Brunner. It was his sixth goal in seven matches since the start of the season.
In the 60th minute, Lens defender Mathieu Udol equalized with a header. However, in the 84th minute, Jonathan Gradit headed the ball into his own net, bringing Monaco the victory.
Standings and Balogun’s return
Monaco remain unbeaten after five rounds and have 13 points. The team are three points ahead of their nearest pursuers, Lille and Rennes, ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches.
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For Lens, this was the first game after the dismissal of head coach Dino Toppmöller, who spent six matches in charge. He was replaced by Yannick Cahuzac, a former Lens player who had been part of Toppmöller’s coaching staff.
Balogun played for the first time since the World Cup, where he scored three goals for the United States national team, one of the tournament’s hosts. During the competition, he received a red card in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. FIFA later suspended the dismissal following the intervention of US President Donald Trump, allowing the player to play against Belgium, who beat the Americans 4:1.
At the beginning of September, the 25-year-old former Arsenal forward was close to joining Everton for €40 million, but changed his mind at the last moment.
