Holders Paris St Germain edged into the Champions League’s last 16 after a 2-2 home draw with 10-man Monaco in the second leg of their knockout-round playoff on Wednesday, advancing 5-4 on aggregate from a tense tie that went right to the wire.
Monaco took the lead on the stroke of halftime through Maghnes Akliouche, but after Mamadou Coulibaly was sent off, PSG took immediate advantage to equalise through Marquinhos in the 60th minute and then went ahead six minutes later through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
But Monaco set up a furious finish when substitute Jordan Teze scored from Simon Adingra’s cross to make it 2-2 in stoppage time and Wout Faes missed a last-gasp chance to force the game into extra time as a glancing header went wide. PSG will next month meet either Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16.
It was another testing game for the Parisians against familiar Ligue 1 opposition, and Monaco might have taken a surprise lead inside the opening 10 minutes when Akliouche, back from a hip injury, set up Coulibaly, who missed from close range.
Four minutes before halftime, Bradley Barcola hit an angled effort onto the Monaco crossbar, which was PSG’s first real chance, but in stoppage time before the break, Akliouche scored with a shot that went in off the upright.
Caio Henrique showed some skill to get past Warren Zaire-Emery and crossed inside, where Coulibaly played a clever short pass to Akliouche to hand Monaco the halftime lead. Game turns after monaco dismissal
Monaco, who are 20 points behind PSG in the French league standings, went down to 10 men in the 58th minute when Coulibaly caught Hakimi late and was issued a second caution, four minutes after his first.