Monaco salvaged a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City with a last-gasp penalty by Eric Dier on Wednesday after the visitor failed to make the most of its domination in the second round of matches of the Champions League.
Dier buried a penalty in the 90th minute to cancel out Erling Haaland’s first-half double, after Jordan Teze’s early equaliser for the French side. Pep Guardiola’s team, which had opened its campaign with a 2-0 win against Napoli, now has four points while Monaco is in the elimination zone on one point after its 4-1 defeat at Club Brugge in the first round of games.
City next travels to Villarreal on October 21 and Monaco will entertain Tottenham Hotspur the following day.
In a quiet Louis II stadium, City was quickly in action. Haaland darted behind the defence and dinked a lob over goalkeeper Phillip Koehn for his 51st goal in 50 Champions League appearances in the 15th minute.
Monaco’s Folarin Balogun was inches away from connecting with a Maghnes Akliouche cross before Jordan Teze pounced after a high press, drilling a finish into the top corner that left City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with no chance three minutes later.
Monaco, however, was on the back foot, pegged into its own half with Phil Foden rattling the crossbar as the visitor dominated.
Haaland was at it again on the stroke of halftime as he rose to meet Nico O’Reilly’s cross and powered a header into the bottom corner to restore City’s lead with his second of the night.
Monaco upped the tempo after the break, and Maghnes Akliouche cut inside his marker before firing a low right-footed shot that Donnarumma turned behind for a corner.
But City regained possession and Haaland came close to wrapping it up with a powerful low shot 16 minutes from time. The visitor, however, lacked a cutting edge and seemed content with its single-goal advantage.
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It was made to regret that when, following a VAR review, Monaco was awarded a penalty after Nico Gonzalez’s high foot hit Dier’s head.
The England international sent Donnarrumma the wrong way to earn his team a point it did not seem to deserve.
Qarabag continues perfect start
Qarabag made it two wins out of two in the Champions League with a 2-0 home victory over Copenhagen, a week after its 3-2 triumph at Benfica.
The Azerbaijani side opened the scoring when Pedro Bicalho struck the post from outside the box in the 28th minute, and captain Abdellah Zoubir reacted quickest to slot home the rebound from close range.
Qarabag struck again in the 83rd minute with an excellent individual goal from substitute Emmanuel Addai, who sealed the win with a low drive from outside the box after being set up by Nariman Akhundzada to spark celebrations in Baku.
Copenhagen, which was held to a draw by Bayer Leverkusen in its opener, hosts Borussia Dortmund on October 21 before Qarabag visits Spain’s Athletic Bilbao the following day.
Published on Oct 02, 2025
