French leader Paris Saint-Germain lost its unbeaten league record and lost top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic to a red card in a 2-1 home loss to AS Saint-Etienne on Saturday.
An own goal from center back Mamadou Sakho gave the visitors the lead in the 55th minute, and striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made it 2-0 in the 73rd. The defeat put an end to PSG’s four-match winning run in all competitions.
“I think we deserved to lose tonight because Saint-Etienne played better,” PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We were missing something. We used up a lot of energy against Marseille [in the League Cup] on Wednesday. Maybe that explains it. Of course we’re disappointed, but we have to look ahead to our next match in the Champions League” against Dinamo Zagreb tomorrow.
Ibrahimovic was shown a straight red card in the 70th for kicking goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier in the chest. Ibrahimovic was racing on to a long pass when he clattered into Ruffier, and both players fell to the floor.
Ruffier, who has been one of the league’s best goalkeepers this season, had stopped Ibrahimovic from scoring his 11th league goal of the campaign with a smart save early on.
Substitute Guillaume Hoarau pulled a late goal back for PSG, which had to replace midfielders Blaise Matuidi and Clement Chantome during the match due to injury.
PSG is three points clear of Toulouse and Olympique de Marseille, which has played two games less.
Toulouse were to play Girondins de Bordeaux and Marseille were set to visit AC Ajaccio yesterday.
Valenciennes climbed above Saint-Etienne on goal difference and into fourth place after beating struggling Sochaux-Montbeliard 3-1 at home, with striker Gregory Pujol scoring twice and midfielder Foued Kadir getting the other goal.
In other results, it was:
‧ Lille 2, Evian 0
‧ Nice 2, Nancy 1
‧ Rennes 1, Reims 0
‧ Troyes 1, Montpellier 1
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