PARIS: Paris St-Germain continued their march towards the Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 win over fifth-placed Lille on Saturday, scoring all four goals in a first half that saw the visitors overwhelmed.

The capital club have 62 points from 24 matches and a 16-point lead over both Olympique de Marseille and third-placed Nice after they won 3-1 at St Etienne.

PSG’s waves of attacks forced Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier into several saves as he tried to stem the tide.

Bradley Barcola scored the home side’s first goal after six minutes pouncing on a rebound after a Chevalier save from Ousmane Dembele and from there it just got worse for Lille.

Marquinhos doubled the lead in the 22nd, scrambling the ball over the line past the Lille defence while six minutes later Dem­bele added a third to all but wrap up the points.

In the 37th minute, Desire Doue completed the first-half scoring with a brilliant strike from a tight angle, leaving Lille with little to play for but pride after the restart.

Both sides created chances in the second half and 10 minutes from time Jonathan David got a consolation for Lille, who stay on 41 points, two behind fourth-placed AS Monaco.

PSG will face Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday.

“It’s a perfect scenario ahead of a game like the one against Liverpool,” said PSG captain Marquinhos. “We’re in great shape and all the signs are good. We’re winning and we’re full of confidence. We must not stop and the staff are pushing us hard to give it our all.”

Earlier, Le Havre came from two goals down to beat RC Lens 4-3. The hosts led through Neil El Aynaoui’s penalty and a goal from Ruben Aguilar, but Le Havre levelled before half-time thanks to Issa Soumare and Andre Ayew. Lens went back in front through Florian Sotoca only for Josue Casimir to equalise, with Ahmed Hassan converting a stoppage-time penalty to win it for Le Havre.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2025