Saint-Etienne 1 - 1 Monaco: Vagner Love grabs Monaco equaliser to deny St Etienne victory

Posted Monday, February 15, 2016 by PA

St Etienne went third in Ligue 1 despite squandering the lead to draw 1-1 with second-placed Monaco.

Despite dominating the early stages, the hosts had to wait until early in the second half to gain reward for their efforts when Moustapha Bayal Sall headed home.

However, with a maximum points haul looking the most likely outcome for St Etienne, Vagner Love struck his first goal for Monaco late on to earn his side a share of the spoils.

Les Verts had the ball in the net in the 13th minute when Kevin Monnet-Paquet headed home, but the linesman's flag went up against Bayal Sall to cut short the celebrations.

Monaco had Danijel Subasic to thank for not being behind early on as the Croatian keeper denied Renaud Cohade superbly before Alexander Soderlund was prevented from opening the scoring with a well-timed header from Franck Tabanou's delivery.

With the scores level at the break, it was the hosts who came out with greater intensity and deservedly grabbed the lead with just 11 minutes played in the second half.

Cohade was the creator as his delivery from a free-kick found defender Bayal Sall, who rose highest in the box to head beyond a helpless Subasic.

Monaco responded but Vagner Love fired wildly over from Thomas Lemar's through-ball.

He had the final say on 84 minutes, though, when St Etienne failed to deal with Joao Moutinho's corner and the former CSKA Moscow striker was on hand to stab home from close range.