{"id":291369,"date":"2023-09-17T13:35:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-17T13:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=291369"},"modified":"2023-09-17T13:35:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-17T13:35:30","slug":"benjamin-mendy-makes-his-return-to-football-after-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/soccer\/benjamin-mendy-makes-his-return-to-football-after-two-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Mendy makes his return to football after two years"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Benjamin Mendy makes his return to football two years since last playing after being cleared of rape as he comes off the bench for Lorient in Ligue 1<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mendy was named on the bench against Monaco and came on in the 71st minute<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He hadn&#8217;t played since August 2021 amid being cleared of accusations of rape<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Benjamin Mendy has made his return to football after two years out of the game.<\/p>\n<p>The former Manchester City and France defender came off the bench for Lorient as a second half substitute against ex-side Monaco in Ligue 1.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy, 29, had been accused of carrying out sex attacks on two women at his \u00a34million mansion.<\/p>\n<p>He was cleared after three hours of deliberation by a jury at Chester Crown Court in July &#8211; and broke down in the dock afterwards before saying he was &#8216;delighted&#8217; with the not guilty verdicts.<\/p>\n<p>He came on as a substitute for Lorient in the 71st minute of their game on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/75527515-12528381-image-m-46_1694955123457.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Benjamin Mendy has made his return to football as a substitute for Lorient against Monaco<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/73375769-12528381-Benjamin_Mendy_has_made_an_instant_return_to_football_five_days_-a-31_1694954817950.jpg\" height=\"446\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mendy signed for Lorient five days after being cleared of rape in July as he made his return to football in France\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy signed for Lorient five days after his trial ended in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>He signed a two-year deal with the Ligue 1 side following his release from Manchester City, where he made 75 appearances after joining in 2017 for \u00a352million.<\/p>\n<p>The left-back had been acquitted of six rapes and one sexual assault rating to four women during a first trial, which lasted four months, but faced a retrial on two separate counts.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy wept when he was cleared of all charges. His lawyer, Eleanor Laws KC, had said that the left back\u2019s career in English football was \u2018over\u2019 and he sealed a move to Lorient, who finished mid-table last season.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/75527445-12528381-image-m-49_1694955152540.jpg\" height=\"336\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The defender came on in the 71st minute of the game with his new side trailing 2-1 in the game<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/75527517-12528381-image-a-47_1694955139693.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He was on the field for his side&#8217;s 98th minute equaliser against the Ligue 1 table toppers\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the game, Lorient took the lead in the second minute when Tosin Aiyegun netted against the league leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Monaco hit back though and dominated proceedings, with Aleksandr Golovin equalising after 17 minutes for the visitiors.<\/p>\n<p>Lorient held their own until the 69th minute when substitute and former Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun scored following his \u00a338million move this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Mendy came on for Vincent Le Goff with 19 minutes of normal time remaining, and was on the field when his side netted a 98th minute equaliser through Romain Faivre.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12528381\/Benjamin-Mendy-makes-return-football-two-years-playing-cleared-rape-comes-bench-Lorient-Ligue-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Benjamin Mendy makes his return to football two years since last playing after being cleared of rape as he comes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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