Monaco-Lyon: Five memorable fixtures

Friday night marks the latest encounter between two prominent French clubs: AS Monaco and Olympique Lyonnais. The two have played some memorable matches, considering the players that have recently passed through their squads over the last few years. Here’s our look at some of most exciting five contests between these two sides.

The two teams come into this latest matchup at opposite ends of the table. Lyon need three points to try to climb out of the relegation places. Meanwhile, Monaco wants the win to stay in the hunt, along with Paris Saint-Germain and OGC Nice, for the Ligue 1 title, but historically both have been strong sides and these five matches have helped tell that story in exciting fashion:

Dec. 17, 2014: Monaco advances in Coupe de La Ligue on penalty kicks

Lyon and Monaco met in the round of 16 for the Coupe de La Ligue and needed more than 90 minutes to determine who advanced. Yannick Carrasco scored in extra time, and Alexandre Lacazette responded. As a result, this contest required penalty kicks to determine the winner, with Monaco edging out OL 6-5 to advance. 

May 7, 2016: OL comfortably beats Monaco

In one of the more lopsided wins between the two sides, Lyon convincingly took all three points from Monaco late with a 6-1 victory in the 2015-16 season. Half of the goals from OL came courtesy of Alexandre Lacazette, who registered a hat-trick in the contest to secure a place in the Champions League for Les Gones.

Feb. 4, 2018: Monaco's comeback win over OL

Lyon scored two goals in 27 minutes of action, and it seemed like they'd be walking to a win. However, Monaco had other ideas. In a span of five minutes, Les Rouge et Blanc scored two unanswered goals before halftime. Then, late in the second half, Rony Lopes scored the game-winning goal for Monaco to complete the 3-2 comeback win.

Apr. 21, 2021: Monaco advances over OL in Coupe de France

Monaco and OL met for a spot in the Coupe de France semifinals, and while the result was a 2-0 win for Niko Kovac's side, it was a closer contest than the scoreline would suggest. Less than ten minutes apart in the second half, Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland scored to allow Monaco to advance.

May 19, 2023: OL score three straight goals for a win vs. Monaco

Monaco scored less than three minutes into the contest after Wissam Ben Yedder converted a penalty kick. Philippe Clement's squad appeared to be marching toward a win, but they soon fell apart as Lyon scored three straight unanswered goals to yank a potential victory away from Monaco, winning 3-1.