Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning champions, continued their strong performance in the French football league by securing their third consecutive victory after defeating the visiting team Lille 3-1. This victory came despite the absence of Paris Saint-Germain’s striker, Kylian Mbappe. The match took place on Saturday at the Parc des Princes stadium.
Lille, who had not lost in their last three league matches before unexpectedly falling to Lyon in the previous round of the French Cup, took the lead only six minutes into the game through Yusuf Yazici. However, Paris Saint-Germain quickly equalized with a goal from Goncalo Ramos in the 10th minute.
A mistake by Lille’s player, Alexandro Ribiero, led to Paris Saint-Germain taking the lead with an own goal in the 17th minute. Randal Colu Moani secured the three points for his team with a third goal in the 80th minute.
With this victory, Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead to 11 points over second-placed Nice, who faced Monaco on Sunday, while Lille remained in fourth place with 35 points.
Kylian Mbappe, the league’s top scorer with 20 goals, was rested by the Spanish coach, Luis Enrique, in preparation for the first leg match of the Champions League round of 16 against Real Sociedad on Wednesday. Despite recovering from a heel injury, Mbappe was not included in the squad for the Lille match.
In another match, Nice boosted their hopes of continental participation next season by defeating Strasbourg 3-1. Goals from Eli Wahi (16′), David Costa (30′), and Florian Sotoka (58′) secured the victory for Nice, while Tom Delan (43′) scored the lone goal for Strasbourg.
Nice now sits in sixth place with 35 points, level with Lille in fourth and Monaco in fifth, both of whom played their matches against Paris Saint-Germain and Nice, respectively, later on Sunday.
This is the third consecutive victory for Nice, who narrowly finished as runners-up behind Paris Saint-Germain last season. Meanwhile, Strasbourg, in tenth place with 25 points, suffered their second consecutive league defeat after remaining unbeaten for six matches.
