Paris Saint-Germain reinvigorated their Ligue 1 title challenge by winning 2-0 at home to Saint-Etienne on Wednesday, cutting Montpellier's lead at the top of the table to three points with three games to play.
Nene put PSG ahead from the penalty spot in the 21st minute at Parc des Princes after Sylvain Marchal had been harshly penalised for sliding in on Jeremy Menez in an attempt to block the winger's shot.
Menez hit the post on the half hour but PSG had to wait until the 88th minute for Javier Pastore to make the game safe, the Argentine crisply dispatching Christophe Jallet's low cross to claim his 12th goal of the season.
"There was lots of pressure on us after Montpellier's result but we took the three points and we're still in the battle," said PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti.
"We have three matches to play and we have to take it match by match and try to win every match."
Ancelotti's side visit Valenciennes on Sunday before hosting Rennes and travelling to Lorient, while Montpellier's run-in sees them visit Rennes, host third-placed Lille, and then go to Auxerre on the season's final day.
The win moved PSG back in front of defending champions Lille, who had briefly taken possession of second place by winning 1-0 at Nice earlier in the evening.
Tulio de Melo scored the game's only goal in the sixth minute, nodding in a left-wing cross from Eden Hazard after the Belgian winger had bamboozled a pair of defenders with a sharp Cruyff turn.
Lille's fourth consecutive win took Rudi Garcia's side to within five points of Montpellier, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Evian on Tuesday.
"We knew it'd be difficult to win here," said Garcia.
"Although we couldn't make the game safe, we put a lot of energy into defending well. By winning here, we've shown that we'll be there until the end of the season."
Lyon's chances of a top-three finish are almost extinct but they are on course to finish fourth after winning 4-1 at home to Valenciennes.
Cris put the freshly anointed French Cup winners ahead with a 69th-minute header after Lisandro Lopez's deflected opener had been quickly cancelled out by a Renaud Cohade penalty.
Lisandro made it 3-1 shortly after before Jimmy Briand scrambled home from close range in the closing stages.
"We'll try not to worry about the other teams and the objective is to focus on ourselves so that we have no regrets at the end of the season," said Lyon coach Remi Garde.
Rennes slipped from fourth to fifth after losing 2-0 at Bordeaux, while Toulouse remain seventh following a 0-0 draw at Brest.
Marseille finally brought their 13-game winless run in the league to an end by winning 1-0 at home to Nancy through a 31st-minute strike from top scorer Loic Remy.Second-bottom Sochaux spurned the chance to climb out of the bottom three, blowing a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at Ajaccio in a match that saw David Sauget and Yassin Mikari sent off for the visitors.
Christian Kinkela and Richard Socrier claimed Ajaccio's goals to lift their side three points clear of the relegation places -- a day after fellow Corsican side Bastia sealed their promotion from Ligue 2.
Elsewhere, Caen calmed their own relegation anxieties by winning 1-0 at home to Lorient courtesy of a scorching 30-yard shot from Thomas Heurtaux mid-way through the second half.
With three games of the season remaining, just five points separate Lorient in 13th place and 19th-placed Sochaux.
Bottom club Auxerre are a further three points back but they have a game in hand at third-bottom Dijon on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment