After Lorient shocked the defending champions 3-1 on Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain will have to work harder — much harder — to win a record 11th French league championship.
With five games left, second-place Marseille defeated Auxerre 2-1 to narrow PSG’s advantage to five points.
“We must not allow the championship slip through our fingers, particularly with such games being played at home. At home, we have to be better than that,” Marquinhos of PSG told Canal Plus. We struggled in the combat since we were often late. We must not allow objectives during the difficult times.
The players were booed off the pitch at halftime and once again after the final whistle by PSG fans who were upset with their lack of effort.
Achraf Hakimi’s second yellow card for stamping on Darlin Yongwa in the 20th minute reduced the home team to 10 men. In the fifth minute, the right back for Morocco was also cautioned for a late hit on Romain Faivre.
With a sliding attempt into the goal from Enzo Le Fee, Lorient took advantage of a period of possession to go in front.
In the 29th minute, Kylian Mbappe scored a poacher’s goal to tie the score when Yvon Mvogo lost focus. The Lorient custodian thought he had a free kick and dropped the ball, but the referee had just permitted play to continue. Mbappe cheerfully took a touch before slipping the ball into an open goal to solidify his position as the league’s leading scorer with 23 goals.
In the 39th minute, Faivre showed PSG’s vulnerability by gliding past Marco Verratti and Juan Bernat to pass the ball to Yongwa, who scored to make it 2-1.
Substitute In the 88th minute, Bamba Dieng converted a rebound on a counterattack to secure the victory.
The preceding two games saw PSG put up weak team performances, but they were held together by the brilliance of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
According to PSG coach Christophe Galtier, “we have too many players who perform below average in this second half of the season.”
Lorient ended a five-game losing skid to maintain their mid-table position.
Alexis Sanchez of Marseille scored the game-winning goal in the 77th minute after eluding the offside trap and shooting past goalkeeper Ionut Radu’s legs.
Auxerre took the lead in the 33rd minute when Birama Toure volleyed in from the outside of the box, but Marseille winger Cengiz Under equalised in the 75th minute with an angled shot.
MONACO SUFFERS A HEAVY LOSS
After losing against Montpellier 4-0, Monaco’s chances of making the Champions League were reduced. Arnaud Nordin scored twice and provided an assist.
Fourth-place While Montpellier picked up three crucial points in its battle for safety to move 11 points above the relegation zone, Monaco holds down the Europa League spot, five points behind Lens, which has a game in hand.
“Up until now, we’ve been competing for the top spot, and if things go better, it’s still a possibility. However, we must move quickly, according to Monaco coach Philippe Clement.
Jeremy Doku, a Belgian international, scored the last two goals to help Rennes defeat bottom-place Angers, who were officially demoted to the second division, 4-2 in the match. Rennes continued to compete for a place in Europe, behind Lille in fifth position by three points.
Forward Clermont defeated Reims 1-0 thanks to a goal from Grejohn Kyei to move up to ninth position. With their sixth consecutive victory, Clermont also formally achieved safety.
Hicham Boudaoui’s goal gave Nice a 1-0 victory against relegation-threatened Troyes to end their three-game losing run.
