Balotelli goal helps Monaco
PARIS: Mario Balotelli hit his 14th league goal of the season and Ricardo Pereira scored a cracker as Nice blew a big hole in Paris Saint Germain’s title defence with a 3-1 win on Sunday.
PSG are chasing a third consecutive sweep of domestic honours but finished the weekend three points behind Ligue 1 leaders Monaco, who also have a game in hand, and played the last moments in Nice with only nine men after they had two men sent off in quick succession.
Nice, still unbeaten at home this season, stay third but are now just three points behind PSG and both have only three games left to play.
After Thiago Motta was sent off for violent conduct for the visitors in the 90th minute, Nice went up the other end and made it 3-1 with a close-range Anastasios Donis header.
In the dying minutes winger Angel Di Maria became the second PSG player to see red when he dived in deliberately and recklessly on Nice midfielder Arnaud Souquet.
Prolific Monaco — they average nearly three goals a game in the league — are pursuing a first French league crown since 2000.
In Milan, a first-half winner from Jose Callejon handed Napoli the points from a 1-0 win at Inter Milan on Sunday that closed the gap on Roma in second to a point.
Maurizio Sarri’s men travelled to the San Siro buoyed by Roma’s earlier 3-1 derby defeat to Lazio that left the capital contenders nine points adrift of leaders Juventus.