After having Achraf Hakimi sent off in the first half, Paris Saint-Germain’s dismal second half of the season continued on Sunday as the Ligue 1 leaders fell to mid-table Lorient 3-1 at home.
Prior to Hakimi’s dismissal for receiving a second yellow card inside the first 20 minutes at the Parc des Princes, Lorient had already taken the lead through an early goal from Enzo Le Fee.
For the home team, Kylian Mbappe scored an opportune equalizer after Lorient goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo had mistakenly flung the ball to the ground after believing the referee had blown for a free-kick.
Darlin Yongwa’s close-range goal gave Lorient the advantage again just before halftime, though, and they sealed the victory late on when Bamba Dieng went through unopposed to score at the second attempt after Gianluigi Donnarumma had blocked his effort.
The final whistle was greeted by raucous jeers from the home crowd at a stadium where one end had been blocked as a result of flares being lit during a Lyon defeat earlier in April.
PSG is eight points ahead of Marseille at the top of the table and is still on track to win the Ligue 1 for the 11th time in a row after suffering their sixth defeat of 2023.
With a victory over Auxerre at home tomorrow, Marseille can close the deficit to five points, and Lens will be six points behind the leaders if they defeat Toulouse away in the middle of the week.
“Our season’s second half has been very, very average,” The PSG coach Christophe Galtier referred to Hakimi’s second yellow card as “really stupid” and added that too many players appeared to be preoccupied.
According to Luis Campos, who serves as PSG’s football adviser but is also essentially the club’s sports director, “everyone in the dressing room is disappointed, and what I expect now is a reaction from everyone, from the players, the staff, and everyone who works for the club,”
“There must be a response, and we must take home the trophy. I have no doubt that we will succeed, but we must watch out that we don’t go crazy. We must be aware that we can do better and that we must do better.
PSG has not dropped a home league game while giving up three goals since October 2010, and Neymar was present to watch from the stands as he continues his ankle injury recovery. That was the last season before Qatari ownership drastically changed the club.
Troyes, Ajaccio, Auxerre, and Strasbourg are four clubs that are either in the relegation zone or are struggling to stay up in PSG’s upcoming four games.
Next weekend’s matchups between their closest opponents, Marseille and Lens, make it extremely improbable that the Parisians will fail to defend their league title.
An earlier 4-0 home loss to Montpellier handed a further blow to Monaco’s chances of making the Champions League for the following season.
For Montpellier, Faitout Maouassa and English ex-Arsenal winger Stephy Mavididi also scored goals, while Arnaud Nordin scored twice. Monaco suffered a second straight crushing loss after losing 3-0 away at Lens the previous weekend.
They are still in fourth position in the standings, five points behind Lens, who play on Tuesday but are now in third. Only the top three teams in Ligue 1 go to the Champions League, with the fourth-place club joining the French Cup winners in the Europa League.
In front of more than 78,000 spectators at the Stade de France, Toulouse won the French Cup on Saturday with a decisive 5-1 victory against the tournament’s defending champion Nantes.
With Jeremy Doku of Belgium scoring twice, Rennes, who are now in sixth place, increased their chances of making it to Europe by defeating bottom team Angers 4-2 on Sunday.
With five games left, Angers, who are currently 18 points from safety, were formally relegated as a result of the outcome.