Mario Balotelli and Younes Belhanda were sent off in the dying seconds as Ligue 1 leaders OGC Nice stumbled into the winter break with a 0-0 draw at Girondins de Bordeaux, allowing AS Monaco to trim the gap at the top to two points.
Paris Saint-Germain eased the pressure on coach Unai Emery by beating Lorient 5-0.
Bordeaux had suffered three successive defeats — conceding eight goals in their previous two outings — and a frustrating evening for Nice ended disastrously with Balotelli and Belhanda dismissed for off-the-ball incidents.
Photo: AP
“I look foward to seeing the images. We’ll see if it’s a foul,” said Favre, after Balotelli was given his marching orders for lashing out at Bordeaux defender Igor Lewczuk. “In the end, I was disappointed after these two red cards because that’s going to be a few matches [suspended].”
Radamel Falcao scored a penalty in a 2-1 win over Stade Malherbe Caen as Monaco rebounded from their defeat at home to Olympique Lyonnais at the weekend.
The Colombian striker won and converted a spot kick shortly after halftime for his 11th goal of the season, before Tiemoue Bakayoko scored for the second game running at the Stade Louis II.
Photo: Reuters
Herve Bazile grabbed a consolation for Caen in stoppage-time.
“We’re very happy with what we’ve done during the first part of the season,” Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said. “It’s the 10th match in a row where we’ve been playing every three days. There was a bit of tiredness and fatigue, but we have 42 points. It’s only the second time in club history [at the halfway stage].”
Edinson Cavani struck his league-best 18th goal this season as reigning champions PSG snapped a three-game winless run with a five-goal demolition of bottom side Lorient at the Parc des Princes.
Emery had challenged his players to finish the year on a high after a series of disappointing results and Belgium international Thomas Meunier opened the scoring with a superb 25th-minute lob.
Lorient centerback Zargo Toure turned a cross from Lucas into his own net for PSG’s second just before the break, before PSG captain Thiago Silva headed in a third minutes after the restart.
Cavani tucked away a penalty after he was brought down in the penalty area, with Brazil international Lucas racing onto a fine Marco Verratti pass to seal a resounding victory.
“It was important to win today,” said Emery, with PSG heading into the break trailing Nice by five points as they chase a fifth consecutive title. “We’ve dropped some important points along the way. We must lose fewer of them in the future. During the second half of the season we’re going to improve to reduce the gap.”
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