Monaco surge to top of the table

Sep 03, 2013 |

Paris

Newly promoted Monaco went top of Ligue 1 after coming from behind to defeat Marseille 2-1 in a thrilling encounter at the Velodrome on Sunday.
The home side took the lead on the stroke of half-time when a Mathieu Valbuena corner from the left was headed home by Brazilian defender Lucas Mendes for his first goal in the French top flight on 43 minutes.
However the lead was short lived as Monaco took advantage of some sloppy Marseille defending to equalise through Colombian record signing Radamel Falcao who crashed the ball home three minutes inside the second half for his third goal of the season.
Frenchman Emmanuel Riviere then stole the headlines with 11 minutes left as he latched onto a sweet through ball from Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho before slotting the ball past former French number one Steeve Mandanda.
It was Riviere’s league leading fifth goal of the season.
“I finished off the work,” said Riviere.
“My speed is my greatest quality and I’m at 100 per cent this season.
“It is my confidence which explains my success and the work I’ve put in.
“What is missing is finishing but my ambition is to target the France national team,” he added.
On a sour note for the 2004 Champions League finalists, Falcao came off with just over 15 minutes left with a right ankle problem although details of the injury remain uncertain.

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