monaco leave it late to snatch draw at anderlecht published: thursday 17 september 2015, 23.00cet anderlecht 1-1 monaco substitute lacina traoré struck five minutes from time as monaco recovered from guillaume gillet's 11th-minute opener to salvage a draw in group j on matchday one.
guillaume gillet volleys hosts into 11th-minute lead substitute lacina traoré heads equaliser five minutes from time fábio coentrão excels on monaco european debut joão moutinho makes 100th uefa club competition appearance next group j games: qarabağ v anderlecht, monaco v tottenham (1 october)
lacina traoré's late equaliser saw monaco salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at anderlecht in the uefa europa league group j opener.
anderlecht's 4-1-4-1 successfully countered the 4-2-3-1 used by last season's uefa champions league quarter-finalists until leonardo jardim's tactical tinkering paid dividends.
guillaume gillet enjoyed licence to break forward and the midfielder surged into the area, left unmarked by elderson, to volley dennis praet's left-wing cross past visiting goalkeeper danijel subašic. besnik hasi's side were close to making it two as they maintained the momentum, the powerful stefano okaka a whisker away from connecting with ıvan obradovic's cross.
fábio coentrão was the inspiration behind monaco's improvement. the portuguese international had a swerving shot beaten away by silvio proto and then produced the pass of the half, which ıvan cavaleiro steered the wrong side of the post.
monaco's starting lineup lacked a natural centre-forward, something rectified when traoré came on at half-time. though monaco penned anderlecht back, the hosts threatened when matías suárez slid a shot narrowly wide after a wallace miskick. then almamy touré had to deflect an obradovic effort behind.
traoré made his physical presence felt to create an opportunity for fellow substitute stephan el shaarawy and, with time running out, headed in the rebound after el shaarawy's brilliant turn and shot from bernardo silva's service. anderlecht's ımoh ezekiel blazed over with the goal at his mercy in added time. touré, meanwhile, could have won it at the other end with an instinctive stab.
midfield unit discipline and cohesion were the watchwords for the home midfield. steven defour set the tone in the screening role in front of the defence, while gillet and youri tielemans, 18, kept in constant communication and harried monaco. with praet and suárez also chipping in, the midfield five judiciously chose when to sit in and when to flood forward.
coentrão class making his first monaco start after joining on loan from real madrid, coentrão revelled in the attacking opportunities provided by his left side of midfield role. as well as getting in shots and delivering precise crosses, the 27-year-old took on set-piece responsibilities and finished the game in his more habitual left-back berth.
