MONACO: Monaco moved to the top of Ligue 1 as they registered an emphatic 3-0 home win over Racing Lens on Saturday.

Monaco now have 10 points from four games, two points ahead of second-placed Olympique de Marseille, who drew 1-1 at Nantes on Friday and three above Stade Brest in third after a 0-0 draw at home to Stade Rennais earlier on Saturday.

Wilfried Singo headed home the opening goal in the 24th minute, followed by a second 12 minutes later from Alexandre Golovin who skilfully finished off a counter attack.

Monaco’s Chilean defender Guillermo Maripan took advantage of a slip from Lens centre back Kevin Danso to score the third in the 59th.

“After five minutes, we were the bosses on the pitch,” said Monaco coach Adi Hutter.“I’m happy because we played against our biggest opponent this season, a Champions League opponent. We deserved this victory.”

Lens, runners-up last season with the best Ligue 1 defence after conceding only 29 goals, are still looking for their first victory of the new campaign. They have conceded 10 goals in four games and stand second-bottom with one point from four matches.

“With 10 goals conceded in four matches, I can’t say that I’m not worried,” said Lens coach Franck Haise. “There are currently players who are not at the level we knew, or not at the level we should expect.”

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2023