After a difficult week for the Qatari-owned club, Paris Saint-Germain put their pursuit for a record 11th French league championship back on track with a 3-1 victory against Troyes on Sunday. Troyes was the team that PSG defeated.
Angry supporters of Paris Saint-Germain staged demonstrations outside the club’s offices and at the residence of the club’s injured star player, Neymar, after PSG’s home game against Lorient the previous weekend was lost.
After Lionel Messi took an unapproved trip to Saudi Arabia, the club decided to ban him for a period of time that was reportedly equivalent to two weeks. This decision added to the mounting feeling of urgency.
The victory against Troyes, a team that was in danger of relegation, coupled with Marseille’s loss of 2-1 at Lens on Saturday, gave PSG a six-point lead over Lens, which was in second place at the time.
After seven minutes, Kylian Mbappe scored the game’s first goal with a close-range header. With that goal, he tied Alexandre Lacazette of Lyon for the league lead with 24 goals scored this season.
PSG seemed to be on their way to win when Vitinha finished off a right-footed shot on the 58th minute, but they let their guard down, which enabled Xavier Chavalerin to score an equalizer for Troyes by heading the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma. PSG ultimately lost the match.
PSG continued to press forward in search of a third goal, and after Mbappe’s poked finish from Renato Sanches was denied by the goalkeeper, Fabian Ruiz finished off the rebound with a curling shot to ensure all three points for his team.
The team’s head coach, Christophe Galtier, said that what they had just done seemed to be a far better representation of what is required of them to take control of games and maintain consistency. It was a really significant victory.”
Galtier declined to comment on the suspension of Messi, citing it as a “internal matter” as his justification.
– Former Arsenal striker Lacazette had a great day, scoring four goals including a penalty goal with the final kick of the play as Lyon rallied from three goals down to win 5-4 against Montpellier. Lacazette scored one of his goals with the last kick of the match.
“I believed in it,” stated Lacazette. “I believed it because I know that a game is never over and it lasts for the full 90 minutes.”
After 55 minutes of play, the away team had a 4-1 lead thanks to goals from Elye Wahi, who also scored four times for his team.
Lyon took advantage of slip-ups committed by Lille and Rennes, the clubs who were ranked above them, on Saturday to propel themselves into contention for European qualifying.
The 31-year-old Lacazette, who spent the previous five seasons at Arsenal before making his return to Lyon this past summer, gave his team the lead with a header in the 30th minute.
But Wahi capitalized on mistakes made by midfielder Johann Lepenant and a foul committed by Dejan Lovren that resulted in a penalty. Then, after capitalizing on another blunder, he chipped the ball over goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and ran on to put Montpellier up by a score of 4-1.
In the 59th minute, Lacazette scored the first goal of the comeback after capitalizing on a through ball from Bradley Barcola.
In the 70th minute, Lovren scored on a header, and in the 82nd minute, Lacazette tied the game with a goal that was assisted by Barcola again.
When Barcola scored a goal with nine minutes remaining in regulation time, it seemed like Lyon had lost their final opportunity to win. After the allotted amount of time had passed, the referee, Clement Turpin, examined the preceding events and determined that Christopher Jullien was responsible for wrestling Lacazette to the ground.
A remarkable comeback victory was capped off by a penalty kick that was well converted by the striker.
As a direct consequence of this outcome, Lyon is now three points behind Lille, who are now in fifth position.
Earlier, fourth-place Monaco defeated Angers by a score of 2-1 to move five points ahead of Lille in the standings.
at the meanwhile, Nantes’ slide toward Ligue 2 continued when they were defeated by relegation rivals Strasbourg 2-0 at their home stadium.
They are still ranked 17th out of the 20 teams in the league, but this year four clubs will be relegated since Ligue 1 will be reduced to 18 teams beginning in the next season.
After beginning the day just behind Strasbourg in terms of goal difference, Nantes is now two points behind Auxerre, which is now in 16th place.
Although we are not very good, we are just two points away from 16th place. It’s up to us to take care of business,” stated Antoine Kombouare, the head coach of Nantes.