Paris Saint-Germain has no serious rival in France this season and will soon find out if its crushing domestic dominance can translate into the team thriving on European soccer's biggest stage.
Still unbeaten in the French league after 23 matches, PSG extended its massive lead at the top of the standings to 13 points on Sunday with a 3-2 win at sixth-placed Lyon.
The match came to life after the interval and featured inspired attacking moves from both sides. PSG was the better side and led 2-0 with seven minutes left to play. The only downside for Luis Enrique’s team was its players' inability to keep their lead intact when Lyon really upped the tempo.
Inspired by the in-form Ousmane Dembélé — who scored his 17th league goal at Lyon — PSG has made tremendous progress in recent weeks. Achraf Hakimi scored PSG's other goals.
There appears little doubt that PSG will win a record-extending 13th league title this season. But a far tougher test looms in March against Premier League leader Liverpool when the two teams face off in a mouthwatering last-16 Champions League tie. The first leg is in Paris on March 5.
It’s the next big hurdle on the road that separates PSG from their ultimate goal of winning the Champions League, a task that has proved too difficult so far despite the millions injected by Qatari investors since 2011.
The only French club to win the Champions League, second-placed Marseille, made headlines for the wrong reason this weekend. It lost 3-0 at Auxerre, and its president accused French league referees of corruption.
In Lyon, Hakimi put PSG ahead in the 53rd minute from Bradley Barcola's cross and Dembélé doubled the lead six minutes later with a superb strike in the opposite corner.
Ryan Cherki ensured some suspense when he pulled one back at the end of a fine team move with seven minutes left to play. Hakimi completed his brace soon after to restore PSG's two-goal lead after Gonçalo Ramos delivered a scintillating backheel pass in the buildup, only for Corentin Tolisso to revive the suspense in stoppage time with a header. But that was too little, too late.
Nantes bounces back
Struggling Nantes moved five points clear off the relegation playoff spot with a 3-1 win against Lens.
A week after getting hammered 7-1 at Monaco, Nantes bounced back to secure only its fifth win in 23 league games this season.
The hosts put on a spirited display against a visiting side that lacked an attacking spark and was reduced to 10 men for the last 20 minutes.
French teenager Louis Leroux celebrated his first Ligue 1 start by opening the scoring in the 36th minute with a powerful shot. Moses Simon then made it 2-0 with a penalty kick on the hour-mark following a handball.
Neil El Aynaoui pulled one back from the spot five minutes later but Lens never looked capable of scrambling a comeback, especially after Mbala Nzola was sent off. Meschack Elia Lina secured a Nantes victory in stoppage time from former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin's assist.
Lens slumped to a third straight loss and remained in eighth place.
Long wait
According to the league's statistics, Coquelin played his first Ligue 1 game since May 29, 2011, meaning he waited for 13 years and 270 days.
The much-traveled Coquelin joined Nantes last month as a free agent.
It's the second longest gap between two matches for a player in the French topflight since 1947-48 after Samuel Lobé — 14 years, 79 days between January 1986 and April 2000.
Aboukhlal's scissor-kick goal
Toulouse winger Zakaria Aboukhlal scored a stunning scissor-kick goal in a 4-1 win at Le Havre. The 25-year-old Dutch player put Toulouse in front with his left foot when he connected with a lofted ball from Shavy Babicka in the Le Havre area.
With his back to the goal, close to the penalty spot, Aboukhlal rose and unleashed an acrobatic shot that hit the right post and went into the back of the net. It was Aboukhlal’s seventh league goal this season.
Le Havre remained in the relegation zone, two points above last-placed Montpellier, with Toulouse 10th.
Other results
Jonathan Claus and Hicham Boudaoui both scored as Nice moved back to third place with a 2-0 win over Montpellier. Strasbourg and Brest drew 0-0.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press
