A stoppage-time winner from substitute Kevin Gameiro earned Paris Saint-Germain a narrow 2-1 victory at third-bottom Dijon FCO on Sunday that preserved their place at the top of the Ligue 1 table.
PSG had Mohamed Sissoko sent off prior to halftime and saw Siaka Tiene’s opener canceled out by Steven Paulle, before Gameiro slotted home in the 91st minute after Jeremy Menez led a counterattack from a Dijon corner.
Dijon upset PSG in the French League Cup in October and they had looked set to hurt them again, but Gameiro’s goal enabled Carlo Ancelotti’s side to remain a point clear of second-placed Montpellier Herault, who beat Stade Malherbe Caen 3-0 in the late game.
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“It’s an important success, because we won with 10 men and we scored in the last minute,” Ancelotti said. “Mentally, the team was up to the task and we deserved to win.”
The Italian also expressed disappointment at Sissoko’s dismissal.
“Momo made a hard tackle, but I think that his foot was on the ball,” he said. “I went to the [referee’s] changing room at halftime to hear his explanation, and he told me that the tackle was dangerous and that’s why he showed him a red card.”
PSG enjoyed the best of the first half, with Dijon goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet tested by both Javier Pastore and Menez, who also flashed a volley narrowly over the crossbar from Pastore’s dinked pass.
However, visiting goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu had to parry a volley from Benjamin Corgnet and the momentum swung in the hosts’ favor in the 41st minute when Sissoko was harshly shown a straight red card for a robust challenge on Eric Bautheac.
Despite the setback, PSG went ahead after just four minutes of the second half, with Guillaume Hoarau eluding Chaher Zarour near the byline on the left, before crossing for Tiene to tap home his first goal for the club.
Pastore dragged a shot across goal and wide as PSG looked to extend their lead, but in the 76th minute Dijon drew level and PSG’s fragility at set-pieces was once again exposed.
A right-wing corner from on-loan Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta was flicked on at the near post and Paulle arrived unmarked to nod the ball into the net.
With PSG looking shaky in defense, Dijon made the mistake of over-committing men forward for a stoppage-time corner kick and Gameiro was the beneficiary, drilling the ball home from Menez’s pass to claim only his second league goal this year.
At the Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier had already hit the woodwork twice against Caen when Karim Ait-Fana put them ahead in the 51st minute, toe-poking the ball in from close range after Alexis Thebaux saved Olivier Giroud’s acrobatic volley.
Thebaux then produced an extraordinary reflex save with his ankle to thwart Remy Cabella, before substitute Souleymane Camara made it 2-0 with seven minutes left, curling home after robbing Aurelien Montaroup on the edge of the Caen box.
Giroud sealed victory with an emphatic penalty in stoppage-time — his 17th goal of the season — after Livio Nabab had impeded Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa.
Montpellier’s victory took them 10 points clear of third-placed LOSC Lille Metropole, who were beaten 2-1 at Olympique Lyonnais on Saturday.
Elsewhere on Sunday, fifth-placed Stade Rennais squandered a chance to put pressure on the teams in the qualifying berths for the Champions League as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to AJ Auxerre, who climbed off the foot of the table.
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