United States forward Folarin Balogun took less than one minute to give Monaco the lead against Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League playoff on Tuesday.
Seventeen minutes later, Balogun scored again and wrote himself into the UCL record books as the first U.S. player to score a brace in the knockout rounds of the competition.
There was only 55 seconds on the clock at Stade Louis II when Balogun headed in a precise cross from the left by Aleksandr Golovin. He slotted home from the top of the center of the penalty area for his second with another cool finish.
The first goal was the fastest that Monaco had ever scored in the Champions League, while the second saw Balogun pull level with Christian Pulisic for the most goals in a single UCL campaign with four. Pulisic reached that mark for AC Milan in 2024-25.
Folarin Balogun joins Christian Pulisic as the only U.S. internationals in a team from Europe’s top 5 leagues to reach 10 goals this season in all competitions
PSG was under some pressure heading into the game after a sixth defeat of the season — which saw them drop out of first place in Ligue 1 — on Friday led to an outburst by star striker Ousmane Dembélé questioning the attitude of his teammates.
On Monday, PSG manager Luis Enrique responded to Dembélé, who left the game against Monaco with an apparent injury, saying comments from his players after poor showings were worthless.
The return leg is next Wednesday at Parc des Princes, with the winner advancing to the last 16.
PSG beat Brest 10-0 on aggregate in the playoffs last season.
Information from The Associated Press.
