Football
2016-17 French Ligue 1, Regular Season
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Associated Press 7y

Kylian Mbappe stars as Monaco beat Bordeaux 2-1

Teenage striker Kylian Mbappe grabbed his fourth goal in three games and Portugal midfielder Joao Moutinho scored with a brilliant curling shot as Monaco beat Bordeaux 2-1 on Saturday to move five points clear at the top of the French league.

Monaco striker Radamel Falcao went off late on clutching his ribs after a heavy challenge from Bordeaux defender Nicolas Pallois.

It was unclear if the injury could rule him out of Wednesday's Champions League round-of-16 return leg against Manchester City. Monaco struggled to break down a well-organised Bordeaux side that is fighting for a place in next season's Europa League.

But after good work from Falcao, the 18-year-old Mbappe showed great composure to finish with a crisp low shot from just inside the penalty area in the 68th minute. It was his 16th goal of the season, and 10th in the league.

Six minutes later, Moutinho collected a pass from countryman Bernardo Silva some 25 meters out to the right of the penalty area and curled a superb first-time shot into the top left without breaking stride.

"I saw it coming, but it was magnificent. The ball dipped at the last moment,'' Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso said. "Sometimes you just have to appreciate a great goal and say 'Well done' to that player.''

Moutinho's goals for Monaco are as rare as they are for Portugal, and this was only his eighth in 117 league games since joining four years ago. Monaco's fans, however, would be forgiven for losing count how many goals their team has scored this season. The tally is now up to 123 heading into the showdown with City, where a quarterfinal place is up for grabs.

Monaco have to overturn a 5-3 deficit from the first leg to advance, and will need goalkeeper Danijel Subasic to start concentrating again. He let in a sloppy goal against City three weeks ago and an even worse one on Saturday -- gifting Bordeaux a lifeline with six minutes left.

After a Monaco attack broke down, Bordeaux hopefully lofted the ball forward. There was no immediate danger as Brazilian defender Jemerson collected the ball near the halfway line. But his hurried back pass was under-hit and forced Subasic to come out of the area to clear it. But the Croatia goalkeeper waited too long. When he did clear it, the ball struck Bordeaux striker Diego Rolan and then bounced back off Subasic's face into the path of Rolan, who ran through and tapped into an empty net.

Monaco held on and arenow six points clear of third-placed Paris Saint-Germain. The defending champions travel to last-placed Lorient on Sunday.

"We didn't score three or four goals today but Bordeaux played well,'' Monaco midfielder Fabinho said. "Now we're thinking about that game coming up against City.''

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