Lille suffered a 2-1 home defeat against lowly Nimes on Sunday and were knocked off top spot in Ligue 1 as their title campaign continued to stutter.
Xeka cancelled out Moussa Kone’s early opener for the visitors but Renaud Ripart gave Nimes all three points and left Lille on 63 points from 30 games.
Christophe Galtier’s side are now second on goal difference behind champions Paris St Germain, who moved top thanks to a 4-2 win at third-placed Olympique Lyonnais.
Nimes’s victory lifted them a spot up to 18th, on 29 points.
Lille, who have won only two of their last six league games, were caught off guard early as Kone curled a superb 20-metre shot into the top corner to put the visitors ahead on 12 minutes.
It did not take Lille long to react.
In the 20th minute, Xena equalised with a downward header from Jonathan Bamba’s corner.
Nimes, however, restored their advantage just before the break, with Ripart chipping the ball past Mike Maignan after being played through by Zinedine Ferhat.
Lille had two goals, by Burak Yilmaz and Xeka, disallowed as they pushed for a late leveller.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
Mbappe reaches milestone to lead PSG to the top with Lyon win
Kylian Mbappe became the youngest player to score 100 goals in Ligue 1 when his double powered Paris St Germain to a 4-2 win at Olympique Lyonnais and to the top of the standings on Sunday.
The 22-year-old France striker netted either side of the interval with Angel Di Maria and Danilo Pereira also getting on the scoreboard to put PSG on 63 points from 30 games.
The French champions, who welcomed back Neymar after a six-week injury layoff, are ahead of Lille on goal difference after the northerners slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Nimes earlier on Sunday.
Lyon, who pulled two goals back through Islam Slimani and Maxwel Cornet, are third on 60 points, one ahead of fourth-placed Monaco.
Mbappe put the visitors in front when he fired home from an angle after Marco Verratti’s fierce strike had been parried into his path by keeper Anthony Lopes.
Pereira doubled the advantage 17 minutes later with a half volley as PSG stamped their authority on the game with quick passing in midfield, composure at the back and speed up front.
Di Maria added another goal two minutes into the second half with a free kick, before Mbappe, played through by Verratti, slotted the ball past Lopes after outrunning Marcelo in the 52nd minute.
With 84 league goals for PSG and 16 for Monaco, Mbappe is the youngest player to reach the 100-goal milestone in the French top division after Herve Revelli, with St Etienne, in 1969.
“When I scored the (team’s) fourth goal, the first thing I thought about was the fifth,” said Mbappe.
“It’s an important milestone in my career but I’m still very young and I can improve.”
Slimani reduced the arrears with an 18-metre shot before Mbappe asked to be substituted.
He walked off the pitch without any apparent pain with 20 minutes left to be replaced by Neymar, who made his first appearance since picking up an adductor muscle injury in a French Cup game against Caen on Feb. 10.
Cornet added another goal for Lyon nine minutes from time with a fine 16-metre attempt that a fully-stretched Keylor Navas could not touch.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Clare Fallon)
Reuters
