Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain won 4-2 at title rival Lyon to move top of the French league on goal difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second-place Lille lost 2-1 at home to Nimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PSG took control with first-half goals from Mbappe and midfielder Danilo against a surprisingly lackluster Lyon, which won 1-0 in Paris earlier this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winger Angel Di Maria scored early in the second half with a free kick which Lyon failed to clear, and the ball bounced just in front of goalkeeper Anthony Lopes before going in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neymar returned after five weeks out with a left adductor injury, replacing Mbappe for the last 20 minutes after he notched his 100th goal in the French league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We came here to win, we knew Lyon often cause problems for us,” Mbappe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They are a good side.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are eight games left in the closest title race for many years, with Lille visiting PSG on April 3 following the international break and fourth-place Monaco lurking just one point behind third-place Lyon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monaco has beaten PSG twice this season, Mbappe, who won the title with Monaco in 2017, fired a shot through the legs of Lopes in the 14th minute and Danilo struck a sweet half-volley into the bottom left in the 31st.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after Di Maria’s free kick from the right eluded everyone, midfielder Marco Verratti’s pass sent Mbappe through on goal and he finished confidently in the 51st.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Substitute Islam Slimani pulled one back for Lyon 10 minutes later with a fine strike from the edge of the area, and winger Maxwel Cornet made it 4-2 in the 80th as PSG backed off too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, Lille paid the price for poor defending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We didn’t play well. There are no excuses, we just weren’t in the game,” Lille captain Jose Fonte told broadcaster Canal Plus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s not about pressure, that’s the same for everyone, it’s more about attitude … When you don’t defend as a team things become difficult.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 30 games Lille has only conceded 19 goals two fewer than PSG . But it was sloppy this time. Coach Christophe Galtier warned his players not to take struggling Nimes lightly, but they could not prevent a third defeat of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The visitors took an 11th-minute lead through striker Moussa Kone’s powerful shot into the top corner after Lille lost the ball on the edge of the penalty area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Midfielder Xeka equalized with a downward header from a corner in the 20th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Galtier’s fears resurfaced when striker Renaud Ripart made a great run behind the defense and deftly flicked the ball past goalkeeper Mike Maignan on halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EUROPE IN MIND<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lens moved three points clear in fifth place and a Europa League spot after winning 2-1 at Strasbourg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Midfielder Massadio Haidara put the visitors ahead in the fourth minute, and playmaker Seko Fofana restored the lead shortly before halftime after midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde equalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OTHER MATCHES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nantes followed up its unexpected win at PSG last weekend by drawing 1-1 at home to Lorient in their relegation fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After scoring against PSG, striker Randal Kolo Muani put Nantes ahead in the first minute but forward Armand Lauriente equalized near the end with a stunning 40-meter free kick into the top right corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lorient is 17th, Nimes 18th and Nantes 19th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea striker Hwang Ui-jo’s early goal turned out to be Bordeaux’s consolation in a 3-1 defeat at eighth-place Montpellier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last-place Dijon lost 1-0 at home to Reims and is 13 points behind Nantes, while Brest drew 0-0 with midtable Angers.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain won 4-2 at title rival Lyon to move top of the French league on goal difference. Second-place Lille lost 2-1 at home to Nimes. PSG took control with first-half goals from Mbappe and midfielder Danilo against a surprisingly lackluster Lyon, which won 1-0 in Paris earlier this season. Winger Angel Di Maria scored early in the second half with a free kick which Lyon failed to clear, and the ball bounced just in front of goalkeeper Anthony Lopes before going in. Neymar returned…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29792"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29794,"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29792\/revisions\/29794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dinnews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}