Lille lost a man at 66 and Monaco still needed until the 74th minute

Lille were down to ten for the final stretch and still held Monaco to a draw at Stade Louis II.

Lille had Nianzou Tanguy Kouassi sent off in the 66th minute, and it took Monaco until the 74th to level the game at 1-1. Ethan Mbappe had given the visitors the lead in the 24th minute, so for most of the match Lille were ahead, then a man short, then level. Edan Diop struck the equaliser for the home side.

Playing a man short changes how every other figure in this game should be read. Lille spent the last 24 minutes of normal time with ten players, and they conceded just eight minutes after the dismissal. Monaco did not simply find a way through a settled defence; they found a gap in a side that was already defending with a player missing.

Monaco had the ball for 64% of the match, well above their own average of 50% this season. They also took 19 shots, against an average of 11.6 for them this season and a league average of 12.7 per side, and 11 of those came from inside the penalty area. Expected goals, a measure of how good a chance is based on where it was taken from, put their total at 1.97, far above their usual 1.18. They scored once, which is below their average of 1.4 goals a game.

Lille were a different side in the attacking sense. They had only four shots, against their usual 11.4, and two of them were on target. Their expected goals figure of 0.71 was well below both their own average of 1.23 and the league average of 1.42 for a side. Ethan Mbappe's goal came from a rare chance and was enough to lead for most of the match, but the visitors created very little after that.

Lille's own weaknesses in defence were clear too. They conceded one goal here, against their season average of 0.7. Monaco's average of 0.9 conceded per game was closer to what they allowed, and their expected goals conceded average of 1.14 was not far from Lille's own 1.17. Lille's goalkeeper, Berke Özer, was among the busiest players on the pitch, making saves when the home side pushed forward in the second half.

Diop's goal was the only time Monaco's pressure turned into a score, and it reflected a match where chances were plentiful but goals were not. The game had two goals against a league average of three per match. Alexsandro Ribeiro and Nabil Bentaleb had quieter afternoons, and the result left both sides with the same points they came in with plus one.

Before this game, Lille had 14 points from seven matches and sat third in the table, while Monaco had the same 14 points and sat fifth. Both now have 15 points, a point each from a match that will be remembered for the sending off rather than the scoreline.

Player of the matchE. Mbappé1 goal8.1

E. Diop1 goal7.6

Vanderson3 chances created7.6

N. Ngoy1 shot on target7.3