PARIS: A superb Kylian Mbappe goal and a Neymar penalty helped Paris St Germain restore a five-point lead atop the Ligue 1 standings with a 2-0 home win over Nantes on Wednesday.

France striker Mbappe found the back of the net with a jaw-dropping backheel finish early in the second half and Neymar doubled the tally in the closing stages to put PSG on 36 points from 15 games.

Second-placed Marseille, who have played one game more, had narrowed the gap to two points with a 2-0 victory at Angers on Tuesday.

“It’s not easy to beat Nantes they are very compact. We tried to play fast but we lost too many balls,” said PSG midfielder Marquinhos.

Nantes dropped to ninth in the table on 23 points from 16 games.

The home side struggled to break through the Nantes defence but eventually did so seven minutes after the break when Mbappe slotted home an assist from Angel Di Maria from close range.

Nantes went close to the equaliser but gifted PSG their second five minutes from time when goalkeeper Alban Lafont fouled Mauro Icardi and Neymar converted the resulting penalty.

Earlier on Wednesday, Gelson Martins came off the bench to fire Monaco to a 2-1 win over Toulouse as the principality side made it six victories in nine league outings.

St Etienne moved into fifth with a 4-1 success over Nice, while Montpellier slipped to sixth after being held to a 2-2 draw at struggling Dijon. Dijon moved one point above Metz, who fell into the relegation zone after a 1-0 loss to Rennes. Amiens’ game against Reims was postponed due to fog.

Third-placed Girondins Bordeaux were ordered to temporarily close the south stand at their Matmut Stadium after fans protesting against club president Frederic Longuepee delayed their 6-0 thrashing of Nimes by 25 minutes on Tuesday after invading the pitch.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2019