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Monaco eventually prevailed 1-0 thanks to a controversial Olivier Kapo goal against nine-man Nancy on Saturday.
The Stade Marcel-Pical, hosting Ligue 1 football for the first time in five seasons, witnessed a typically cagey opening day encounter until the half-hour.
Despite a bright opening from the hosts it was Monaco’s Brazilian right-back Douglas Maicon that had the chance to open the scoring on 33 minutes after slicing through the ASNL defence.
However, Pablo Correa’s young side couldn’t profit from Maicon’s profligacy before the break despite Gaston Curbelo and Eli Kroupi both being gifted openings by the overly generous Monaco defence.
The home side opened the second half as they had finished the first – on the attack.
Curbelo saw a header skim the Flavio Roma’s crossbar before Sébastien Puygrenier saw his headed effort flash just the wrong side of the upright.
Monaco has weathered the worst of the Nancy storm and on-loan Juventus midfielder Olivier Kapo gave them the lead with 69 minutes on the clock.
David Gigliotti found Toifilou Maoulida on the right and his cross was fumbled by Nancy ‘keeper Gennaro Bracigliano into the path of Kapo.
The former Auxerre player poked the ball goalward and it bounced off the line before being cleared by the Nancy defence. The referee, Mr Kalt, awarded the goal after consulting with his assistant, raising the ire of the home players and supporters.
The frustration proved too much for some. Kroupi was given shown a red card for spitting at Monaco defender Sébastien Squillaci and Mickaël Chrétien followed in stoppage time.
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