Montpellier 1 Monaco 2: Unbeaten run stretches to 30
Kamil Glik and Kylian Mbappe scored for Monaco in a 2-1 Ligue 1 victory in Montpellier to strengthen their position at the top of the table
Ligue 1 leaders Monaco stretched their unbeaten league run against Montpellier to 30 matches with a 2-1 victory at Stade de la Mosson.
The record is Monaco’s longest against any club in the top flight and goals from Kamil Glik and Kylian Mbappe ensured it continued.
Montpellier pulled one back through Hilton at the start of the second half but they were unable to complete the comeback, a late red card for Jemerson coming too late to give them a way back in.
The result stretches Monaco’s lead at the summit to six points ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s clash with Lille later on Tuesday.
Glik got Monaco off the mark in the 16th minute, when he rose to head a Thomas Lemar free-kick into an empty net, with goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren having carelessly rushed off his line to make more contact with Glik than with the ball.
And the visitors' second was not far away.
Four minutes later, Djibril Sidibe won possession on the edge of his own box and a swift counter attack culminated in Mbappe slotting beyond Jourdren having embarked on a rapid sprint down the left wing.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Montpellier gave themselves every chance of snatching a result when Hilton headed in at the near post from a Ryad Boudebouz corner within two minutes of the restart.
39 - At 39 years old and 4 months, Vitorino Hilton has become the oldest player to score in Ligue 1 in the 21st century. Oldest.February 7, 2017
Monaco were then reduced to 10 men when Jemerson was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Boudebouz after 88 minutes, but it left too little time for Montpellier to take advantage.
'I think that’s the respectful thing for two captains to do after a game. I probably boiled over a bit at the end, with a bit of everything coming out': Jarrod Bowen lifts lid on heated clash with Mario Lemina after West Ham's win over Wolves
Arsenal want Dan Ashworth - for a VERY different kind of revolution