PSG bounce back in style
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain brushed aside bottom club Metz 5-0 in Ligue 1 on Saturday to ease some of the pain of their Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid in midweek.
Twenty-year-old Christopher Nkunku scored twice for PSG at the Parc des Princes, with Thomas Meunier, Kylian Mbappe and Thiago Silva also on target.
The result restores PSG’s 14point lead over reigning champions Monaco at the top of the table with just nine games left, keeping them on course to reclaim the title.
A clean sweep of the domestic trophies for the third time in four seasons is on the cards, although that will not completely make up for the disappointment of another underwhelming campaign in the Champions League.
Tuesday’s 2-1 home defeat against Madrid condemned them to a second consecutive exit from that competition in the last 16 and effectively ended any prospect of Spanish coach Unai Emery still being in charge next season.
“Everyone knows that we are disappointed, that we disappointed the fans, but we are trying to move forward again,” said Mbappe, whose side are through to the French Cup semi-finals and play Monaco in the League Cup final at the end of this month.
“One match is not going to allow us to forget everything. Digesting what happened is difficult but we are professionals, so we need to turn the page and move on.”
Third-placed Marseille played Toulouse and fourth-placed Lyon hosted Caen late yesterday.
Elsewhere, at least a hundred angry Lille supporters invaded the pitch at their Stade PierreMauroy after their struggling side drew 1-1 at home to Montpellier.
Some of the pitch invaders tried to attack players, including the young forward Nicolas Pepe, who had scored their goal, before making their way towards the players tunnel, below where club directors were watching on.
Stewards eventually managed to keep back the supporters, who are unhappy at the way their team’s season is going — Lille are in the relegation zone, with Christophe Galtier struggling to turn around the fortunes of the side after Marcelo Bielsa was sacked late last year.