PARIS: Paris St-Germain coach Luis Enrique said his side had to “fight” to open up a six-point gap over second-placed AS Monaco in Ligue 1 with a 1-0 home win over RC Lens on Saturday.

A single Ousmane Dembele goal was enough for PSG to take full advantage of title rivals Monaco’s latest stutter after the principality side lost at home to lowly Angers on Friday.

Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov received a red card on the hour mark but the visitors managed not to concede again.

Luis Enrique’s side sit top of the table on 26 points, six ahead of Monaco with third-place Lille a further two points adrift.

“They did not allow us to play at our usual tempo,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique. “But we managed to create a lot of chances from the beginning, and we deserved to score more goals. I think it is a fair win — it was a hard one, but a fair result. Three more points in the bag.”

For Will Still’s Lens, they remain just outside the European spots in seventh place with 14 points.

The champions swept into the lead on four minutes as Dembele tucked home a cross following good wing play by Bradley Barcola, bringing up his fifth league goal of the season.

Lens were dealt blow as they were reduced to 10 men as a VAR review adjudged Khusanov’s tackle to have been high.

Only a fine fingertip save from Samba against Barcola in the 73rd minute kept the visitors’ chances alive.

PSG’s level then dropped as the second half progressed but already a goal and a man to the good, they were able to hold Lens at arm’s length and close out the three points.

Later on Saturday, Nice moved up to fifth with a 1-0 win at Champions League new boys Brest while Saint-Etienne rose out of the relegation zone thanks to a 2-0 victory over Strasbourg.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2024