Paris (dpa)
Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead in the French Football League table, after earning a tough 1-2 win against their hosts Strasbourg last night in the competition’s sixteenth stage.
The rest of the stage games ended with Ajaccio 1-0 at home against Angers, Monaco 3-2 at Auxerre, Lille 2-0 at Clermont and Lyon 4-2 at home of Brest, while Troyes drew with Nantes 0-0.
Paris Saint-Germain, who played their first match after the competition resumed its activities after a break of about a month and a half due to World Cup matches in Qatar, climbed to 44 points clear, earning his 14th tournament victory this season and his sixth in a row.
Instead, the balance of Strasbourg stops at 11 points in the nineteenth (penultimate) place, which suffered its seventh defeat against only one victory and 8 draws. Saint-Germain opened the scoring through Marquinhos in the 14th minute, but the same player equalized for Strasbourg with a reversed goal, which he scored in the 51st minute.
The side from the French capital defied the numerical shortage in their ranks, after French international star Kylian Mbappe scored the precious winning goal in the sixth minute of time instead of losing on a penalty. Monaco returned to the road to victories they had lost in the final stage of the tournament, having snatched a thrilling 3/2 win at their host Auxerre’s stadium, and Monaco’s tally, who took their ninth win against 3 draws and 4 defeats in the tournament this season, climbed to 30 points in fifth place, while Auxerre’s balance stopped at 13 points in eighteenth place (third from bottom). Auxerre scored through Mbaye Niang in the 30th minute from a penalty, before Wissam Ben Yedder equalized for Monaco in the third minute of calculated time instead of also losing for the first half via a penalty. In the second half, rising player Elis Ben Saghir scored Monaco’s second goal in the 58th minute, but friendly fire earned Auxerre an equaliser, after Monaco’s Youssef Fofana scored a reverse goal for the home side at 68′. brilliance in the match, after scoring the third goal for Monaco and his goal. The second personal goal in the 85th minute, to give the away team the three points. This victory comes to reconcile Monaco with its fans, with the resumption of the competition, suspended for around a month and a half due to the World Cup in Qatar, after being frustrated by the team’s defeat by the same result against its host , Olympique de Marseille, in their last match of the tournament. Ajaccio deepened the wounds of their hosts Angers in the competition after beating them 1-0.
