Gaëtan Laborde (81′) and Petar Skuletic (86′) were on target for Montpellier Hérault SC to cancel out Youri Tielemans opener (42′) as La Paillade left the Stade Louis II with all three points on Saturday.
AS Monaco 1-2 Montpellier Hérault SC 
THE MATCH
Having picked up their first win of the Thierry Henry era against SM Caen last Saturday, Monaco bounded into this clash with their Mediterranean rivals in high spirits and dominated proceedings in the first half. Nacer Chadli had four – yes, four – free-kicks that he spun into the Montpellier box (11′, 12′, 14′ and 22′) but each time the division’s second-meanest defence scrambled to clear. When Monaco finally got a shot off, Benjamin Lecomte in the visiting goal was soundly beaten, but Tielemans’ effort flew past the post (28′). It was nothing if not deserved, then, when the principality side pulled into the lead towards the end of the first half. Monaco broke forward on the counter and Tielemans, having found Benjamin Henrichs, continued his run to meet the Germany full-back’s return pass before steering the ball past Lecomte for his fourth goal of the campaign (42′).
Tired legs make the difference
Monaco’s dominance continued into the second half and when another Chadli free-kick set Aleksandr Golovin on his way, the Russia youngster was unfortunate to see big Brazilian centre-back Hilton get on the end of his cross instead of one of his teammates (49′). Golovin then crashed an effort off the crossbar (53′) before Montpellier mustered their first real chance with nearly an hour gone, Laborde heading narrowly over after beating Jemerson to meet Pedro Mendes’ cross (57′). Having also played in Monaco’s 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, a visibly match-worn Chadli was subbed off for Pelé just past the hour mark (61′), with captain Radamel Falcao following him soon after (75′) and the pendulum duly swung in Montpellier’s favour. Andy Delort raced clear on the counter and crossed for Laborde, who headed home the equaliser (81′) an there was still time for Skuletic – himself a second-half substitute – to find the winner, latching onto another Delort cross before converting his first Montpellier goal (86′) to complete a 2-1 win.
THE PLAYER: Nacer Chadli
Tielemans may have got the Monaco goal but his Belgium teammate Chadli was at the centre of everything Monaco did. When the former Tottenham Hotspur man made way for Pelé, he had completed four crosses, taken six free-kicks and attempted two through-balls. No player attempted more key passes even with an extra half hour on the Monaco midfielder, and one suspects the result might have been different had he been fit enough to complete the 90 minutes.
THE STAT: 27
This was Montpellier’s first win over Monaco in 27 attempts. The last time La Paillade took all three points against Les Rouges et Blancs was all the way back in January 1994. Michel Der Zakaria – Montpellier’s 55-year-old coach – was playing centre-back for his current employers that day.
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