Alexandre Lacazette scored a league-leading 26th goal of the season as Olympique Lyonnais returned to the top of Ligue 1 on goal-difference from Paris Saint-Germain after a 4-2 win at Stade de Reims on Sunday.
Lyon, who have played a game more than PSG, raced 2-0 ahead when midfielder Corentin Tolisso netted his seventh goal of the season when he headed in from a corner in the second minute and Lacazette pounced four minutes later with a volley from Cameroonian winger Clinton N’jie’s cross.
Midfielder Alexi Peuget gave the hosts hope when he pulled a goal back with a deflected strike in the 13th minute, but Lyon reasserted their authority when N’jie expertly turned in leftback Henri Bedimo’s cross to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes of a frantic opening spell.
Photo: AFP
Defender Mickael Tacalfred’s lobbed his own goalkeeper as he tried to intercept a pass in the 90th minute to put Lyon 4-1 up, before Gaetan Charbonnier netted a stoppage-time consolation goal from a corner.
“We have to savor this win because it will count at the end,” Lyon captain Maxime Gonalons said.
Two-time defending champions PSG can move three points ahead if they beat struggling Metz today, as they look to chip away at Lyon’s superior goal difference of plus-39 compared with plus-35.
Even though Lyon remain very much in title contention, their performance dipped notably in the second half.
“We have to do much better if we want to become a big team,” Lacazette said. “We have to control games better.”
Earlier, teenage forward Anthony Martial continued his scoring form with his seventh goal in eight games as AS Monaco eased to a 3-0 win at last-placed Racing Club de Lens to remain third.
AS Saint-Etienne kept the pressure on with a 1-0 win over Montpellier Herault, but Monaco are two points ahead of the fourth-placed side with four games remaining in the chase for a UEFA Champions League spot.
Monaco were knocked out of the Champions League by Juventus last week, but have good momentum heading into the league’s home stretch.
“We knew it was an important game, a difficult game for us given the context,” Monaco midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia said, referring to Lens’ battle against relegation.
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco scored Monaco’s first in the 36th minute, skipping past two players and thumping a powerful shot into the top-left corner.
He then set up Martial with a superb pass with the outside of this foot moments before halftime. The 19-year-old did the rest, collecting the ball in his path, advancing inside the area and placing a clinical low shot under the body of goalkeeper Rudy Riou.
Bernardo Silva has been Monaco’s other form player in recent weeks and the Portuguese midfielder made it four in three games with a close-range finish in the 72nd minute after good work from Martial down the left.
Lens are 12 points away from safety with the league’s worst goal-difference and only have a remote chance of staying up if they win all four of their remaining games with resounding scorelines.
Ivory Coast winger Max-Alain Gradel scored his eighth goal in eight games as Saint-Etienne extended their unbeaten run to nine league games and moved three points clear of fifth-placed Olympique de Marseille.
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