Frustrated Monaco coach wants VAR after controversial penalty

Frustrated Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim demanded VAR video assistance be introduced in French Ligue 1 after a controversial penalty saw his team squander two points in a 3-3 draw at struggling Toulouse Saturday. Monaco could find themselves 14 points behind runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain by the end of the weekend and Jardim insisted the referee did his team no favour by awarding a penalty in the 78th minute when his side were leading 3-1. Polish defender Kamil Glik was punished for bringing down Yaya Sanogo in the area in the 78th minute, allowing Andy Delort to score from the spot. Former Arsenal striker Sanogo then grabbed a late equaliser as Toulouse shared the points. The point dragged relegation-threatened Toulouse two points clear of the bottom three, while reigning champion Monaco remain 11 points adrift of PSG. Marseille visit PSG Sunday, when Rudi Garcia's men will be hoping to end a 15-match winless streak against their arch rival to leapfrog Monaco into second. Jardim's principality side took an eighth-minute lead at the Stadium Municipal Saturday as Rony Lopes grabbed his sixth league goal of the season.

Great effort from the team today, unlucky not to get the three points. Let's keep fighting boys! #TFCASM #Ligue1 @AS_Monaco ⚽️?? pic.twitter.com/JXeYNiLYOk

— Stevan Jovetić (@sjovetic) February 24, 2018

Keita Balde, who has hit some excellent form in recent weeks, caused havoc in the Toulouse defence after chasing down a long ball, before squaring for the onrushing Lopes to score. But the host didn't take long to find an equaliser, as midfielder Ibrahim Sangare sidefooted a shot through the grasp of Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic to notch his first-ever Ligue 1 goal midway through the second period. Monaco were dealt another blow before half-time, as Senegalese youngster Balde hobbled off injured to be replace by Stevan Jovetic. The Montenegrin international should have finished off a wonderful, sweeping move early in the second half, but after his effort bounced back off the post, Portuguese winger Lopes was on hand to lash into the roof of the net to complete a brace. Jovetic made no mistake when he was given another opportunity in the 72nd minute, as he combined with Rachid Ghezzal before stabbing in his third goal in two games, after his initial chip was saved by Alban Lafont. But former Wigan and Caen striker Delort gave Toulouse hope of a comeback with his 78th-minute penalty, and Sanogo had the final say. The much-maligned 25-year-old, who only scored one goal in 20 Arsenal appearances before joining Toulouse last year, fired in an 87th-minute leveller with his second league goal for the club.

D27 - @ToulouseFC vs. @AS_Monaco_EN - Final Whistle pic.twitter.com/AwXid4Bh41

— Ligue1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) February 24, 2018

RESULTSToulouse 3 (Sangare 24, Delort 78-P, Sanogo 87) Monaco 3 (Lopes 8, 47, Jovetic 72)Guingamp 2 (Deaux 22, 86) Metz 2 (Mollet 6-P, Roux 56)Lille 1 (Pepe 88) Angers 2 (Ekambi 73, 89)Nantes 0 Amiens 1 (Kakuta 45+1)Rennes 2 (Khazri 47-P, Prcic 72) Troyes 0Dijon 2 (Silva 24-og, Tavares 70-P) Caen 0 SUNDAY'S MATCHESBordeaux v Nice, Lyon v St-Etienne and PSG v Marseille POINTS TABLETeams P W D L GD PtsPSG 26 22 2 2 62 68Monaco 27 17 6 4 38 57Marseille 26 16 7 3 27 55Lyon 26 14 7 5 24 49