Neymar scored a fine late winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Lyon 1-0 on Sunday night to move three points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table. The Brazilian finally beat Anthony Lopes, who had pulled off numerous impressive saves, with three minutes of normal time to play at the Groupama Stadium.
It was Neymar’s second winning goal in as many league games since being reinstated to the team following a protracted transfer saga which saw him attempt to force through a return to Barcelona.
“Neymar can do better,” said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel. “It’s the second or third game in four months for him. He’s not at 100% capacity. He is not at his limit. He can do better, he will do better. He’s going to get to his best level, with matches and decisive goals like that, it’s going to help him.”
The Parisians sit top on 15 points after Angers and Nice both won over the weekend to temporarily join Tuchel’s side at the summit, and followed up their impressive midweek Champions League victory over Real Madrid with the win in constant drizzling rain in Lyon.
Sylvinho’s Lyon remain in ninth place and are without a win since mid-August. PSG were without the attacking trio of Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Mauro Icardi due to injuries, while midfielder Marco Verratti started on the bench.
The best of the early chances fell to Neymar on 22 minutes but his effort was superbly saved by Lopes.
Neymar was denied again by another tidy Lopes stop four minutes before the break as the Portugal international tipped the Brazil forward’s dangerous free-kick over the bar.
PSG’s domination from the first half carried over into the second 45 minutes. Abdou Diallo had the pick of the chances, using the wet conditions to glance a header from a Neymar corner over the crossbar. The world’s most expensive player was targeted by home fans when taking set-pieces from the left-hand side as they threw plastic bottles and rolled-up bin bags at him. With 87 minutes on the clock, substitute Verratti found Neymar in the box who dribbled into space and finally beat Lopes to the keeper’s left with a low shot. He celebrated by running towards the same corner of the ground where he had earlier been taunted by the Lyon supporters.
Meanwhile, Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim insists he is unfazed by the speculation over his future as the 2017 French champions go into a midweek derby against Patrick Vieira’s Nice still without a win this season.
The principality club battled to a 0-0 draw in Reims at the weekend but have a meagre three points after six games and sit in the Ligue 1 relegation zone. After only just avoiding the drop last season, Monaco had been hoping to return to challenging for Champions League qualification this time around.
A reported 133mn euros ($146.1mn) has been invested in new signings, but they are already 12 points adrift of leaders PSG and nine behind Nice in third. They have won only once in 15 games since March and supporters called for the head of Jardim during Saturday’s match.
“It is nothing personal. The coach is always responsible for bad results,” said Jardim, who masterminded that run to the title in 2017 before being sacked in October last year, only to return three months later after Thierry Henry’s ill-fated spell in charge. “Now we have two matches, against Nice and then against Brest on Saturday, but there is always pressure in football.”
Monaco’s main problem this season has been their defence, while summer recruits Wissam Ben Yedder and Islam Slimani have quickly forged a promising partnership in attack. However, they kept a welcome clean sheet in Reims while Ben Yedder and Slimani were out injured. Both hope to return against Nice at the Stade Louis II. It also remains to be seen if Cesc Fabregas will be recalled after being dropped at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Nice make the short trip along the stunning Cote d’Azur fresh from winning four of their opening six games. Danish striker Kasper Dolberg scored his first goal in French football in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat of Dijon following his 20.5mn euro move from Ajax, and Nice can go provisionally level with PSG if they win.