Monaco 1 Bayer Leverkusen 1: Glik stunner snatches a point

Kamil Glik’s brilliant injury-time strike saw Monaco snatch a point in a 1-1 Champions League draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

A drab game had appeared certain to end goalless, before former Manchester United man Javier Hernandez netted a fifth strike in his last four outings to give visitors Leverkusen the lead in the 73rd minute of the Group E fixture at Stade Louis II.

His header owed much to the provider of the cross, substitute Admir Mehmedi, who had replaced Kevin Volland just moments earlier to light up the match.

Monaco had been in supreme form in the early weeks of their campaign, sitting second in Ligue 1 and beating Tottenham away in their European opener, but they looked blunt without captain Radamel Falcao.

Glik though proved the unlikely source of a valuable point, netting an unstoppable half-volley deep into injury time to deny the Bundesliga side. 

Leverkusen started on the front foot, but Hakan Calhanoglu dragged their first real effort wide of the near post and the hosts soon made up ground.
 
However, in Falcao’s absence – the Colombian having suffered a concussion in Ligue 1 action against Nice last week – his deputy Valere Germain had limited opportunities in the first half.
 
Bernd Leno charged out to intercept a dangerous Joao Moutinho pass when the 26-year-old forward did get a sight of goal, and a clear opening did not arrive until just before the break.
 
Monaco had previously found the visiting defence standing firm as they looked for a gap, but Djibril Sidibe’s fine backheel teed up Thomas Lemar to drill just wide from the edge of the area.
 
That attempt then prompted Leverkusen to respond, with Danijel Subasic making a low stop after Volland had played through Hernandez.

Shortly after the restart, Bernardo Silva started and ended a neat move for the hosts – via Lemar and Tiemoue Bakayoko – but his left-footed strike deflected over the crossbar.

At the other end, Subasic confidently gathered Charles Aranguiz’s thump, before Volland almost earned a shooting opportunity with a dash beyond Andrea Raggi.

With 17 minutes remaining, though, Leverkusen found a breakthrough, with Hernandez predictably the scorer.

Mehmedi, who had emerged from the bench just seconds earlier, reached the byline on the right and centred to the back post where the Mexican was able to nod a simple effort into the net.

The substitute attempted an audacious late lob in hope of adding a second, but, clearing the crossbar, it looked as though Leverkusen would instead hold onto their one-goal lead.

However, with their first shot on target in the 94th minute, Monaco came up with a glorious equaliser.

Guido Carrillo headed a long pass down into the path of Glik on the edge of the area, and the central defender powered the bouncing ball high past the helpless Leno to earn an improbable point.