Paris Saint-Germain unintentionally brings back the tension for the national championship in Ligue 1. The star team of Christophe Galtier went down on Sunday in the Parc des Princes against Olympique Lyon: 0-1. The previous match, against Stade Rennes (0-2), was also lost at home. PSG is still at the top, but sees the lead over RC Lens and Olympique Marseille shrink to six points. There are still nine rounds to go.
At PSG, Marquinhos and Achraf Hakimi returned to defense, while Renato Sanches started in midfield. In the absence of the badly injured Neymar, Galtier again chose Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé as the only attackers. Lyon also kicked off strengthened. Goalkeeper Anthony Lopes returned after a finger injury. The opening phase was for PSG, which became dangerous three times in the first ten minutes. A lob from Vitinha and then from Mbappé didn’t make it and another shot from the latter smothered in Dejan Lovren’s block.
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— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) April 2, 2023
Lyon then got into his game better and got a huge chance due to Danilo’s clumsy loss of the ball, which Thiago Mendes could not capitalize on. After more than half an hour, Lyon forced a penalty when PSG’s offside trap was circumvented. Lyon striker Bradley Barcola slipped, after which the ball rolled at Alexandre Lacazette’s feet. The striker willingly went to ground when he felt contact with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and was thus awarded a penalty. Lacazette shot it at the post. The rebound fell at the feet of Nicolás Tagliafico, who mowed the ball over.
At the end of the first half, PSG also claimed a penalty, but Lovren got away with a hand touch. Ten minutes after the break, Lyon took the lead. Saël Kumbedi intuitively placed the ball low in front of the goal, where Barcalo was able to run into it at the far post: 1-0. PSG took the initiative, but hardly became dangerous. Lyon kept breaking out and forced Donnarumma to make a stylish save on a Barcola shot. In the last minute, Mbappé tried from a distance. The shot became another dangerous projectile after half a block, but Lopes was able to save.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Saint Germain | 29 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 39 | 66 |
| 2 | RC Lens | 29 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 27 | 60 |
| 3 | Olympic Marseille | 29 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 60 |
| 4 | AS Monaco | 29 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 57 |
| 5 | Lille OSC | 29 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 52 |
| 6 | Stade Rennes | 29 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 50 |
| 7 | Reims | 29 | 11 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 46 |
| 8 | OGC Nice | 29 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 45 |
| 9 | Olympic Lyon | 29 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 44 |
| 10 | Lorient | 29 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 44 |
| 11 | Montpellier | 29 | 11 | 4 | 14 | -3 | 37 |
| 12 | Clermont | 29 | 10 | 7 | 12 | -12 | 37 |
| 13 | Toulouse | 29 | 10 | 5 | 14 | -7 | 35 |
| 14 | Nantes | 29 | 6 | 12 | 11 | -10 | 30 |
| 15 | Stadium Brest | 29 | 6 | 9 | 14 | -14 | 27 |
| 16 | Strasbourg | 29 | 5 | 11 | 13 | -13 | 26 |
| 17 | A. J. Auxerre | 29 | 6 | 8 | 15 | -27 | 26 |
| 18 | Troyes AC | 29 | 4 | 9 | 16 | -24 | 21 |
| 19 | AC Ajaccio | 29 | 6 | 3 | 20 | -31 | 21 |
| 20 | Angers | 29 | 2 | 5 | 22 | -42 | 11 |