Golovin shines as Monaco slip out of drop zone; Marseille held

Paris: Russia midfielder Aleksandr Golovin scored twice and set up a third goal as Monaco moved out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Patrick Vieira’s Nice on Tuesday.

Golovin’s double came either side of Patrick Burner’s equaliser before he fed Wissam Ben Yedder to claim Leonardo Jardim’s first three points of the campaign, lifting some of the pressure from the Portuguese coach.

The 30-time Russia international opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark as captain Cesc Fabregas marked the first victory of the season with his maiden assist for Monaco.

Former Chelsea and Barcelona playmaker Fabregas, who joined the Ligue 1 side in January, found Golovin inside the box and the attacker smashed his finish high into the top corner.

The hosts were denied a quick second four minutes later as Islam Slimani’s effort was ruled out for offside by VAR.

Vieira’s side were back on level terms eight minutes into the second period.

Monaco made a mess of clearing a short corner and right-back Burner scored his first senior goal.

Golovin’s second came as Slimani played a square ball for the 23-year-old to finish smoothly.

He then teed up Ben Yedder who made sure of all three points, beating Walter Benitez with ease and securing Jardim’s first win since May.

Earlier, Andre Villas-Boas’ Marseille struggled to a 0-0 draw at winless Dijon.

The Portuguese coach was without influential midfielder Dimitri Payet and centre-back Boubacar Kamara due to suspensions from red cards received in last weekend’s tie at home to Montpellier.

Agence France-Presse

French League results on Tuesday:

Monaco 3 (Golovin 29, 74, Ben Yedder 79) Nice 1 (Burner 54); Dijon 0 Marseille 0