Paris St Germain extended its lead in Ligue 1 following a 3-2 victory at Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday, courtesy of Achraf Hakimi’s double and an Ousmane Dembele strike in the second half.
PSG, which remains unbeaten in the league, stretched its winning streak in all competitions to eight games while moving on to 59 points, 13 clear of second-placed Olympique de Marseille, which was beaten 3-0 at Auxerre on Saturday.
“I think that today, we showed everyone that we are capable of playing any match against any team,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told DAZN. “We feel very strong tonight, we’re in a very good phase.”
After a fairly uneventful first half, the champion found its way through a resilient Lyon defence eight minutes after the break when Hakimi slotted a powerful shot into the bottom corner, off a fine Bradley Barcola cross.
Ligue 1’s top scorer Dembele doubled PSG’s lead six minutes later with a great curling shot into the far corner after a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia pass, marking his 17th league goal of the season.
The host pulled a goal back in the 83rd minute thanks to a Rayan Cherki goal from inside the six-yard box, but Hakimi thwarted any chance of a comeback by bagging his brace to seal the win just two minutes later.
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Lyon kept up the pressure, prompting a couple of impressive saves from PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the Italian could not prevent Corentin Tolisso’s stoppage-time strike, which added late drama to the contest.
“Congratulations to the team, it was a tough game. The important thing is to get three points and to keep on winning this league,” said man-of-the-match Kvaratskhelia.
“It was a difficult game because they attacked right to the end. They tried to attack all the time, and we had to be good at defending right to the end.”
The defeat leaves Lyon in sixth place, the Europa Conference League qualifying spot, with 36 points.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com