Neymar on Wednesday conjured up a moment of magic as Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain beat ESTAC Troyes 2-0 to pull 10 points clear of Olympique de Marseille at the summit.
PSG thrashed Troyes 9-0 the last time the sides met in March last year, but this time Edinson Cavani saw his first-half penalty saved by goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa at the Parc des Princes.
Unai Emery’s side appeared to be running out of ideas and heading toward their first dropped points at home this term before Neymar crashed in a terrific left-footed strike to break the deadlock on 73 minutes.
Cavani then atoned for his missed spot-kick by wrapping up victory in the final minute as he netted for a league-best 17th time this season, the Uruguayan scoring for the seventh game in a row.
“Edi [Cavani] and Neymar didn’t have their best day and they managed to score goals like that, they are great players and we’re lucky to have them here,” PSG midfielder Marco Verratti told Canal+. “Neymar is one of the best players in the world and can do something good for the team at any moment. He scored a very important goal.”
Earlier, Florian Thauvin starred as Marseille moved second after cruising to a 3-0 victory at lowly Metz, while Olympique Lyonnais lost to managerless Lille OSC and AS Monaco were beaten at Nantes.
Rudi Garcia’s Marseille are now unbeaten in 10 league games, while Lyon and Monaco sit two points further behind with Bruno Genesio’s men third, above the champions on goal-difference.
Thauvin opened the scoring in the 18th minute at bottom club Metz, who still only have four points this season.
The 24-year-old persevered to cut inside his marker, before curling an excellent finish into the far corner for his seventh league goal of the season.
Brazil international Luiz Gustavo took advantage of some woeful Metz defending to make it two before halftime, and Argentine winger Lucas Ocampos rounded off a comfortable win with 19 minutes to play.
Lille claimed a shock 2-1 away victory over in-form Lyon in their second game since suspending head coach Marcelo Bielsa, as home skipper Nabil Fekir missed a second-half penalty on his return from illness.
“It was an off day I think. There are no accidents in football. We didn’t play a good match,” Fekir said.
Lille winger Thiago Mendes produced a wonderful individual goal in the 21st minute to put Lyon’s 12-match unbeaten run under threat, as he jinked into space and bent a left-footed strike into the top corner.
However, the hosts did not waste much time in drawing level, as Mariano Diaz beat Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan to Tanguy Ndombele’s cross and headed in his 10th Ligue 1 goal since joining Lyon from Real Madrid.
Struggling Lille hit back to retake the lead in the 40th minute as Kevin Malcuit’s simple right-wing cross picked out an unmarked Ezequiel Ponce to nod home.
Lyon were given a chance to equalize again shortly after the break, but captain Fekir’s weak penalty was saved by Maignan.
Mendes should have put the game to bed when he volleyed wide with the goal at his mercy, but Lille held on for a much-needed win that dragged them out of the bottom two and into the relegation playoff spot.
Reigning champions Monaco suffered a third straight defeat in all competitions as Claudio Ranieri’s Nantes grabbed a 1-0 win with an stoppage-time winner.
Looking to bounce back from their 2-1 loss to PSG over the weekend, Monaco were hit by a sucker punch as fullback Lima drilled in from the edge of the area in the third minute of added time.
“It was important to score and to win after two defeats. These are three golden points against the champions,” Ranieri said.
Mario Balotelli’s penalty helped 10-man OGC Nice come from behind to win 2-1 at Toulouse, as Tunisian Bassem Srarfi’s last-gasp strike pulled the away side clear of the relegation zone.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB