Olympique Lyonnais reclaimed top spot in Ligue 1 on Saturday with a convincing 2-0 victory over strugglers Evian Thonon Gaillard to put the pressure back on title rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
A superb free-kick from Clement Grenier after 20 minutes and an Alexandre Lacazette penalty seven minutes from the break gave Lyon the three points as they remain in the race for their first Ligue 1 title since 2007-2008.
Lyon have the same 71 points as PSG, but lead on goal-difference. The capital city club could restore their three-point lead when they were due to head to mid-table Nantes yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
“We don’t want to have any regrets in the end. There’s three matches to play. We are going to get maximum points,” Lyon defender Henri Bedimo said. “PSG have maturity with players used to playing at the highest level and they are used to fighting for the title, but we’re not thinking about them.”
Lyon’s victory was tarnished a degree when Clinton Njie limped off early in the second half with what looked like a tweaked hamstring.
Evian lost their 20th Ligue 1 game of the season and remain in 18th, a point away from safety.
Elsewhere, AS Saint-Etienne slipped to fifth following a 1-0 slipup at SC Bastia, while European hopefuls Montpellier Herault and Girondins de Bordeaux were held to goalless draws by Brittany sides Stade Rennais and Lorient respectively.
Stade de Reims lost 2-0 to En Avant de Guingamp, who are now assured of staying up, while 13th-placed OGC Nice and 14th-placed Stade Malherbe Caen Calvados drew 1-1.
LOSC Lille Metropole were due to travel yesterday to local rivals Racing Club de Lens, who already know they will be playing in Ligue 2 next season as Lorient, now 15th with 39 points, are out of reach.
Reims, 17th, and Evian, 18th, play each other next weekend, with the winner set to take a huge step toward safety.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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