French giants, Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday night suffered a second home defeat in a row, falling 1-0 to Lyon as they saw their lead at the top of Ligue 1 cut to six points in a game that saw Lionel Messi being booed again.
Against the backdrop of their 2-0 loss at home to Rennes two weeks ago, it was Lyon’s Bradley Barcola who inflicted the latest loss for PSG at the Parc des Princes.
The goal by Barcola — who had come on as replacement for injured Amin Sarr — made up for a missed penalty by Alexandre Lacazette in the first half.
It is the Parisians’ fifth Ligue 1 loss this season, all of them in 2023, and leaves Christophe Galtier’s side just six points ahead of both second-placed Lens and Marseille in third.
Lyon, coached by former PSG boss Laurent Blanc, now move up to ninth place.
PSG midfielder Danilo acknowledged the team had hit “a difficult phase” which they had to find a way out of, given their rivals were closing in.
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‘We have to wake up. The title is not guaranteed at all, there are still a lot of matches,” he said on Prime Video.
‘There are lot of things to change, not just the mindset, but it’s not up to me to say what.’
PSG have been severely hampered by injuries, with Neymar recovering from ankle surgery and their defence decimated.
Kylian Mbappe failed to pull off any last-minute goals as the newly named France captain has managed in earlier games against Strasbourg or Brest.
Before the kickoff against Lyon, Lionel Messi’s name had drawn whistles from supporters in the stadium during team line-up announcements.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Messi — who led Argentina to last year’s World Cup triumph in Qatar — is nearing the end of his two-year contract with the Paris club who head Ligue 1 and talks have begun on a possible renewal.
Monaco kept up their push for a Champions League spot with a rollercoaster 4-3 home win over lowly Strasbourg.
Monaco trailed 2-1 at the interval despite taking an 18th-minute lead through Vanderson.
Lebo Mothiba and an own-goal by Chilean defender Guillermo Maripan gave Strasbourg the edge.
Eliesse Ben Seghir and Edan Diop, both just 18 years old, and Youssouf Fofana then hit goals inside an 11-minute spell in the second half to give Monaco a 4-2 lead.
Habib Diallo’s stoppage-time strike was only a consolation for Strasbourg.
Monaco have 57 points, just three behind third-placed Marseille who were held to a 1-1 draw by Montpellier on Friday.