Psg Vs Monaco: Holders Survive Late Scare in 2-2 Draw to Reach Champions League Last 16 (5-4 agg)

In a tense knockout play-off, psg vs monaco finished 2-2 on the night, 5-4 on aggregate, as holders Paris St-Germain advanced to the Champions League last 16 despite a late scare. The match produced an early Monaco lead, a pivotal red card, quick responses from PSG and a stoppage-time consolation that narrowed the margin but could not prevent the holders' progress.

Psg Vs Monaco: Match result and immediate significance

Paris St-Germain progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League after the 2-2 result left the tie 5-4 in their favour on aggregate. The holders avoided elimination despite Monaco pulling back a late goal; the aggregate scoreline ensured PSG advance to the knockout stage. The holders will discover their next opponents in the knockout draw on Friday at 11: 00 GMT, and potential routes now include clubs that could take them all the way to the final in Budapest.

Key moments in the psg vs monaco tie

• Maghnes Akliouche opened the scoring for Monaco with a first-time finish that hit the post and found the bottom corner just before half-time.
• Earlier in the half Akliouche had created another chance when he played a strong ball into the box, but Mamadou Coulibaly's follow-up flew high over the bar.
• Mamadou Coulibaly received two yellow cards in the space of three minutes and was sent off for a tackle on Achraf Hakimi just before the hour mark, reducing Monaco to 10 men.
• PSG levelled almost immediately after the red card when Marquinhos slotted home from Desire Doue's low cross.
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put PSG back in front on 66 minutes after Hakimi's low strike was parried into his path by Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Kohn (name also given elsewhere as Philipp Koehn), allowing the Georgia winger to fire in from close range.
• In stoppage time Jordan Teze produced a bottom-corner finish as a consolation for Monaco, but PSG held on to advance.

Tactical snapshots and team context

Monaco had come into the second leg carrying the memory of last week's first leg in the principality, where PSG had come from two goals behind to win 3-2 and where Monaco had a player sent off early in the second half; that first-leg red card saw Aleksandr Golovin dismissed. For the second leg, Monaco coach Sebastien Pocognoli set his side up in a 5-3-1-1 with Maghnes Akliouche supporting central striker Folarin Balogun, the US national team forward who had scored twice in the previous meeting.

PSG were missing last year's Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele because of a calf injury. The game swung decisively after Coulibaly's dismissal, with PSG converting a resulting set-piece sequence and then taking advantage of a parried Hakimi effort to seal the tie on aggregate.

Match chronology and notable incidents

Monaco had threatening moments early, including a Balogun chip that needed to be tipped over by Matfei Safonov and a Coulibaly chance from an Akliouche cutback that was lashed high. Bradley Barcola struck the bar for PSG during a period when Monaco were the better side, and it was from a sustained period of pressure that Akliouche scored before half-time.

After being booked for a foul on Nuno Mendes, Coulibaly was shown a second yellow for a late challenge on Hakimi and dismissed. The free-kick sequence that followed was played short to Desire Doue and finished by Marquinhos. Kvaratskhelia's goal followed a parry by Monaco's goalkeeper, and in stoppage time substitute Jordan Teze turned in a deflected Simon Adingra cross to make it 2-2. Wout Faes also came close to adding another for Monaco late on.

Wider implications and statistical notes

Monaco are currently eighth in their domestic league and sit 20 points behind leaders PSG, though they beat PSG in a domestic meeting in November. The principality side had not won a Champions League knockout tie since their 2017 run to the semi-finals that featured a teenage Kylian Mbappe. Monaco have managed just one victory in their last 10 trips to the Parc des Princes.

After the opportunity to rate players closed, the displayed score represented the average from user submissions. Highlights of Champions League fixtures are available from 22: 00 on Wednesday on the broadcaster's platforms, and there will be a televised Match of the Day-style programme on Wednesday from 22: 40 to 00: 00. To load comments for coverage you may need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Match momentum is measured by comparing each team’s threat minute by minute; the momentum value is the difference between each team’s most dangerous moment, or team threat, in that minute.