PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain kept their unbeaten start to the season intact with a dominant 3-0 win at Reims which extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to seven points yesterday.
PSG who suffered their last league defeat at Reims last season when they lost 1-0 in the champagne region, gained a slice of revenge in a controlled, professional performance away from home.
Lucas Moura and Jeremy Menez shared goals either side of half-time and Zlatan Ibrahimovic added a late insurance marker while Reims missed a late penalty as Laurent Blanc’s men rumbled to their 10th victory in 14 outings.
Second-placed Lille host lower table Toulouse today while Cote d’Azur big spenders Monaco also face a must win situation at Nantes in a bid to keep pace with the runaway leaders.
The defending champions took a deserved lead on 24 minutes when ‘keeper Salvatore Sirigu found Lucas with a clearance who in turn played a neat one-two with Swedish team-mate Ibrahimovic which broke the Brazilian behind the home defence.
A composed touch allowed the 21-year-old to tee up a right foot shot that flew into the left hand corner of the goal with Reims’ Togolese ‘keeper Kossi Agassa cleanly beaten. Menez made sure Laurent Blanc’s men head to Benfica for their Champions League tie on Wednesday in fine fettle, after another explosive finish with 30 minutes remaining.
Christophe Jallet made a penetrating run into the Reims penalty area before finding Marco Verratti who then found Menez at close range to set up the strike for Menez.
Verratti’s clumsy challenge at the other end minutes later appeared to hand Reims a life-line with a penalty but Grzegorz Krychowiak’s spot-kick mirrored Roberto Baggio’s spectacular miss in the 1994 World Cup final shootout when he blazed his shot wildly over the bar.
Ibrahimovic, who finished last season as top scorer with 30 goals, moved joint top of this campaign’s charts with his ninth goal in the dying minutes.
A clearance from Agassa was gratefully scooped up by the Swede outside the box and he rifled the ball into the back of the goal to equal Radamel Falcao and team-mate Edinson Cavani’s tally.
Marseille moved up to fourth spot on Friday with a 3-1 triumph at Ajaccio, although Nantes can reclaim the Europa League spot if they can pick up at least a point at home to Monaco today. AFP
