Paris Saint-Germain took the lead in Ligue 1 for at least four hours on Saturday. Mauricio Pochettino’s team fought by star Neymar past number five RC Lens: 2-1. The Brazilian attacker made the opening goal in the first half and gave the assist on PSG’s second goal after the break. Lille OSC is two points behind the Parisians and can take back first place in the home game with OGC Nice on Saturday evening.
Possession was from the start for PSG, which struggled to create opportunities. Danilo tried it with a header from a free kick from Neymar and saw his bet be tapped over by goalkeeper Wuilker Faríñez. After half an hour, PSG was helped in the saddle, when Lens defender Facundo Medina lost the ball in the back. Neymar took advantage and put the ball calmly past Faríñez: 1-0.
Neymar then put another ball with the head ready for Pablo Sarabia, who produced a weak shot with great freedom. On the stroke of half time Lens became dangerous on the other side via Seko Fofana, who narrowly missed the intersection with the left. In the second half, the visitors also had a chance to score the equalizer. Arnaud Kalimuendo, for example, tried sliding from a cross from the right, but the striker lacked the precision to find the goal.
PSG thought it would end the game after an hour, when Marquinhos towered over everyone and headed in a corner kick from Neymar: 2-0. The tension was brought back into the game two minutes later. Kalimuendo tried with an unsuccessful bicycle kick and saw the ball landed fortunately with fellow striker Ignatius Ganago, who hit from close range: 2-1. Neymar then saw a free kick nicely tapped from the corner by Faríñez, while a shot by Julian Draxler was blocked by Medina at the last moment. In the final phase, Mauro Icardi saw an inticker rejected due to offside assistant Marco Verratti.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 35 | 24 | 3 | 8 | 52 | 75 |
| 2 | Lille OSC | 34 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 35 | 73 |
| 3 | AS Monaco | 34 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 71 |
| 4 | Olympique Lyon | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 32 | 67 |
| 5 | RC Lens | 35 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 56 |
| 6 | Olympique Marseille | 35 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 56 |
| 7 | Rennes | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 54 |
| 8 | Montpellier | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | -3 | 47 |
| 9 | OGC Nice | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | -1 | 46 |
| 10 | Metz | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | -4 | 43 |
| 11 | Reims | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | -2 | 41 |
| 12 | Angers | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | -17 | 41 |
| 13 | Stade Brest | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | -10 | 40 |
| 14 | Saint-Étienne | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | -13 | 39 |
| 15 | Strasbourg | 35 | 10 | 8 | 17 | -10 | 38 |
| 16 | Girondins Bordeaux | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | -16 | 36 |
| 17 | Lorient | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | -18 | 35 |
| 18 | Nantes | 34 | 6 | 13 | 15 | -17 | 31 |
| 19 | Nimes | 34 | 8 | 7 | 19 | -29 | 31 |
| 20 | Dijon | 34 | 3 | 9 | 22 | -38 | 18 |
Date:Saturday 1 May 2021, 5:00 PM
Stadium:Parc des Princes (Paris)
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