PARIS: AS Monaco missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 after Lorient`s Romain Faivre scored a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw in a game that saw defender Benjamin Mendy, acquitted in a sex offences trial in England in July, make his return to professional football on Sunday.

The 29-year-old France international and former Manchester City player was introduced on 70 minutes with Lorient trailing 2-1, and it was the defender`s cross which led to the equalising goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time Isaak Toure rising above the defence in the box to head the ball down for Faivre, who volleyed home.

Mendy`s last competitive game before Sunday was back in August 2021 in the Premier League for City against Tottenham Hotspur.

The draw means Monaco are on 11 points after five games, one point ahead of second-placed Brest -who won 2-1 at Reimswhile defending champions Paris St Germain are a point further behind in fifth.

Lorient, who lost 3-0 at promoted Le Havre before the international break, made an explosive start when Aiyegun Tosin opened the scoring inside two minutes. Monaco`s goals came from Aleksandr Golovin and Folarin Balogun before Faivre levelled.

Olympique de Marseille had the opportunity to move level with Monaco on points but despite having an array of attacking talent on the pitch, they were held at home to a 0-0 draw by Toulouse, leading to jeers from their own fans.

Marseille had 21 shots in the match, a third of them from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who has yet to score in the league since his move from Chelsea. But they failed to find the net while they also hit the woodwork twice.

The result leaves Marseille third in the standings with nine points, the same as Nice who have an identical record.

In Sunday`s late game, Olympique Lyonnais drew 0-0 at home to Le Havre to climb off the bottom of the table, although they remain without a win this season.

It was Lyon`s first match since former Italian international Fabio Grosso was named to replace the sacked Laurent Blanc as coach.-Agencies