Brunner leads Monaco past Freiburg in Conference League as Panathinaikos go top

BERLIN, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Paris Brunner opened the scoring as Monaco beat Freiburg 3-0 in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, with Lamine Camara and Ansu Fati adding late goals.

Both sides approached the opening stages cautiously, with clear chances limited. Freiburg suffered an early setback when Yannik Engelhardt was forced off following a collision with Camara.

Monaco gradually gained the upper hand. Mio Backhaus denied Coulibaly and Brunner midway through the first half, but the Freiburg goalkeeper was beaten shortly before the interval.

Brunner broke past Rosenfelder in first-half stoppage time, raced clear and finished low beyond Backhaus to put the hosts ahead.

Schuster replaced Suzuki with Lucas Holer at halftime, and Freiburg responded with greater attacking intent. Kubler came closest in the 48th minute, forcing a save from Lukas Hradecky before his follow-up attempt was blocked.

Freiburg enjoyed more possession after the break but struggled to penetrate Monaco's compact defense. The hosts remained patient and exploited the spaces left as the visitors pushed forward.

Camara doubled Monaco's advantage in the 83rd minute, converting the rebound after Backhaus had denied Fati following a counterattack.

Fati completed the victory in second-half stoppage time, turning inside the penalty area before scoring Monaco's third.

The result lifted Monaco to sixth in the standings with six points from two matches, while Freiburg dropped to 18th with three points.

Elsewhere, Panathinaikos went top after thrashing Kairat Almaty 5-1, while second-placed Lugano beat Getafe 5-2. Brann defeated Kauno Zalgiris 4-1, Trabzonspor overcame Hearts 2-0 and Twente beat Lincoln Red Imps 4-1. Hajduk Split edged Thun 1-0, while Sint-Truidense won 1-0 at Midtjylland.

Ajax beat Atalanta 2-0, Braga defeated Gent 2-0, Borac overcame KuPS Kuopio 2-0 and Universitatea Craiova won 3-1 at Inter Escaldes. Brighton drew 0-0 at Jablonec, Copenhagen drew 2-2 at Crvena Zvezda and Mjallby held Iberia Tbilisi 1-1. Nordsjaelland drew 2-2 with CSKA Sofia, Pafos drew 1-1 with Riga, while Aarhus and Egnatia also finished 1-1.