Guillaume Hoarau scored twice on Sunday to lead Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-1 win over Le Mans and into fifth place in French Ligue 1.
Hoarau leads the league’s top scorers with 10 goals, one ahead of Lyon striker Karim Benzema and Bordeaux’s Fernando Cavenaghi.
PSG midfielder Stephane Sessegnon created Hoarau’s first in the 23rd minute and set up a goal for Peguy Luyindula in the 87th minute.
PHOTO: AFP
Lyon leads the standings with 34 points, three more than second-place Marseille and four ahead of Rennes. PSG are tied with Bordeaux on 29 points, but Bordeaux have a better goal difference.
At Parc des Princes, Gregory Cerdan briefly pulled Le Mans level with a powerful header in the 31st minute, only for Hoarau to combine neatly with Ludovic Giuly to put PSG 2-1 up in the 39th minute.
Hoarau had given PSG the lead with a calm finish after Sessegnon’s clever pass had split the Le Mans defense and Sessegnon’s curling lobbed pass over midfield sent Luyindula through to finish confidently with a low shot near the end.
Earlier, Kevin Gameiro scored a late winner to give Lorient a 1-0 victory over Nancy.
Lorient were frustrated by Nancy’s packed defense until Gameiro scored in the 82nd minute when he volleyed in a cross from winger Fabrice Abriel.
The win moved Lorient up to 11th place with 23 points after 17 rounds, while Nancy stayed 15th.
Also on Sunday, it was Monaco 1, Sochaux 1 and Grenoble 0, Auxerre 0.
Sochaux took the lead in the eighth minute when Tunisia striker Francileudo Santos converted Stephane Dalmat’s cross, but Alejandro Alonso equalized in the 19th minute when goalkeeper Teddy Richert blocked a shot and he slotted home the rebound.French Ligue 1
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Lyon | 17 | 10 | 34 |
2 | Marseille | 17 | 12 | 31 |
3 | Rennes | 17 | 10 | 30 |
4 | Bordeaux | 17 | 9 | 29 |
5 | Paris Saint-Germain | 17 | 6 | 29 |
6 | Nice | 16 | 5 | 28 |
7 | Toulouse | 17 | 2 | 27 |
8 | Lille | 17 | 6 | 26 |
9 | Le Mans | 17 | 0 | 24 |
10 | Monaco | 17 | 2 | 23 |
11 | Lorient | 17 | 3 | 22 |
12 | Caen | 17 | 3 | 22 |
13 | Grenoble | 16 | -3 | 21 |
14 | Auxerre | 17 | -2 | 20 |
15 | AS Nancy | 17 | -4 | 19 |
16 | Nantes | 17 | -10 | 18 |
17 | St Etienne | 17 | -13 | 16 |
18 | Sochaux | 17 | -7 | 12 |
19 | Le Havre | 17 | -16 | 12 |
20 | Valenciennes | 17 | -11 | 11 |
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