Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Monaco's Radamel Falcao scores their third goal REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
(Reuters) - Monaco mauled struggling Lille 4-0 away to move level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain on Friday as Stevan Jovetic and Rachid Ghezzal both netted their first goals for the champions.
With just one win in their opening seven games, Lille are enduring their worst start to the season in years, and even though Marcelo Bielsa's side looked lively early on, their carelessness was always going to be punished.
As they tried to break up an attack, Lille midfielder Anwar El-Ghazi inexplicably passed to Monaco striker Jovetic on the edge of the area and he rifled the ball home in the 24th minute for his first goal since joining the club from Inter Milan in the summer window.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim shakes the hand of Thomas Lemar as he speaks to Adama Diakhaby REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
Monaco needed no help from their hosts six minutes later as Ghezzal arrived late into the box to slam the ball home with his left foot after a sweeping move down the right.
Radamel Falcao netted a simple header three minutes into the second half, nodding the ball into an empty net after Mike Maignan blocked the initial shot by Rony Lopes, and he added a penalty in the 74th minute.
The win puts Monaco on 18 points and in second place on goal difference behind PSG, who visit Montpellier on Saturday.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Monaco's Radamel Falcao celebrates scoring their fourth goal REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Toby Davis)
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Monaco fans REUTERS/Pascal RossignolSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Monaco's Radamel Falcao celebrates scoring their fourth goal REUTERS/Pascal RossignolSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Lille fans REUTERS/Pascal RossignolSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Lille’s Mike Maignan REUTERS/Pascal RossignolSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Monaco's Radamel Falcao celebrates scoring their third goal with team mates REUTERS/Pascal RossignolSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - LOSC Lille vs AS Monaco - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 22, 2017 Monaco's Radamel Falcao celebrates scoring their third goal with team mates REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
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