Paris Saint-Germain will have to work harder — much harder — for a record 11th French league title after Lorient stunned the defending champion 3-1 on Sunday.
Second-place Marseille could cut PSG’s lead to five points
with a win over Auxerre later Sunday.
PSG supporters were unhappy with the players’ lack of effort
and booed them off the field at halftime and again after the final whistle.
The hosts were down to 10 men after Achraf Hakimi received a
second yellow card for a stamp on Darlin Yongwa in the 20th minute. The Morocco
right back also got booked for a late tackle on Romain Faivre in the fifth
minute.
Lorient capitalized on a spell of possession to take the
lead in the 15th with a sliding effort from Enzo Le Fee into the roof of the
net.
Kylian Mbappe equalized with a poacher’s goal in the 29th
when Yvon Mvogo had a lapse in concentration. The Lorient goalkeeper put the
ball on the ground, thinking he had a free kick, but the referee had only waved
to play on. Mbappe couldn’t believe his luck and took a touch before tucking
into an empty net to consolidate his spot as the top scorer in the league with
23 goals.
Mvogo did well to save Danilo’s close-range header in the
67th.
Faivre exposed the weakness of PSG in the 39th by strolling
past Marco Verratti and Juan Bernat to cut the ball back for Yongwa, who
slotted home for a 2-1 lead.
Substitute Bamba Dieng sealed the win by converting a
rebound after a counterattack in the 88th.
PSG also produced unconvincing team performances in the past
couple of games but was saved by the brilliance of Lionel Messi and Mbappe.
Lorient snapped a five-game winless streak to remain in the
middle of the table.
HEAVY LOSS FOR MONACO
Arnaud Nordin notched two goals and an assist as Monaco’s
hopes of qualifying for the Champions League took a hit after a 4-0 loss to
Montpellier.
Fourth-place Monaco occupies the Europa League spot, five
points behind Lens which has a game in hand, while Montpellier earned three
precious points in its fight for safety to move 11 points above the relegation
zone with five games remaining.
Montpellier winger Nordin intercepted a sloppy pass from
Youssouf Fofana and cut inside to guide the ball into the bottom corner in the
28th.
Faitout Maouassa doubled the lead with an angled strike at
the near post in the 65th before Nordin curled a shot into the far corner in
the 72nd to make it 3-0.
English striker Stephy Mavididi took a pass from Nordin to
round off the scoring with a low effort in the 79th.
Belgium international Jeremy Doku netted the last two goals
to give Rennes a 4-2 win over bottom side Angers, officially relegated to the
second division. Doku volleyed home in the 54th before dribbling past two
defenders to fire into the bottom corner in the 85th. Rennes stayed in the race
for European spots, trailing fifth-place Lille by three points.
Forward Grejohn Kyei scored the lone goal in the fourth
minute as Clermont edged Reims 1-0 to climb to eighth place.
Nice beat relegation-threatened Troyes 1-0 with a goal from
Hicham Boudaoui in the second minute to snap a three-game losing streak. -AP