AS Monaco vs. Lille Trend Finder

Mbappe nets twice in win over Lorient but PSG's title party delayed by Monaco victory

Wed, Apr 24, 2024
Soccer News (AP)

LORIENT, France (AP) - Paris Saint-Germain will have to wait at least a few more days to try to clinch the French league title.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice and provided an assist in a 4-1 win over Lorient on Wednesday, but there were no celebrations because second-place Monaco beat Lille 1-0 later in the evening.

The lead atop the standings is 11 points with four games remaining. Defending champion PSG can clinch its record-extending 12th French league title at home on Saturday against Le Havre.

PSG remains on course for a treble of trophies in Mbappe's final season with the club, as it will play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals and face Lyon in the French Cup final next month.

In a match between the most prolific attack and the most porous defense in the league, PSG winger Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring in the 19th minute in Lorient, a sleepy seaport in Brittany.

Mbappe doubled the lead by nonchalantly flicking a cross from Nuno Mendes into the far corner in the 22nd.

The France forward set up the third goal by dribbling past Nathaniel Adjei to square the ball back to Dembele, who tapped into an empty net.

READ MORE Man United beats Sheffield United 4-2 after twice falling behind against last-place team Atalanta beats 10-man Fiorentina 4-1 to reach Italian Cup final vs. Juventus Liverpool's Premier League title hopes hit by 2-0 loss to Everton. Man United survives another scare

Mbappe sealed the win in the 90th with a curler into the far corner to solidify his spot as the top scorer in the league by raising his tally to 26 goals.

"We had a good game, we were serious, we deserve the three points," Dembele told Amazon Prime. "Now we must finish the job to be champions as quickly as possible."

Relegation-threatened Lorient scored a consolation goal with a powerful header from Mohamed Bamba off a cross from Benjamin Mendy in the 73rd.

Gianluigi Donnarumma prevented a nervy finish by saving a low strike from Lorient substitute Panos Katseris in the 80th.

PSG coach Luis Enrique fielded a makeshift team that included academy players Senny Mayulu and Yoram Zague. Managing his players' minutes, Luis Enrique even left Marquinhos, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, Bradley Barcola and Warren Zaire-Emery out of the matchday squad.

PSG has only lost one league game this season, and that was in September.

Monaco won a fourth straight game to go six points clear of fourth-place Lille and move closer to an automatic Champions League spot.

France midfielder Youssouf Fofana won the ball in midfield and scored the lone goal with a low drive from the edge of the box in the 61st.

Lille trails third-place Brest by a point and still occupies the spot for the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Also Wednesday, Marseille's European hopes took a hit after a 2-2 draw with fifth-place Nice.

Nigeria forward Terem Moffi put Nice ahead in the 13th after goalkeeper Pau Lopez came off his line and missed the ball.

Marseille right back Jonathan Clauss leveled the game with a powerful strike from the edge of the box in the 31st.

Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Marseille the lead with a penalty in the 56th after Mohamed-Ali Cho had fouled Leonardo Balerdi.

But Nice left back Melvin Bard equalized with a low diagonal shot in the 72nd.

Marseille leapfrogged Lyon into eighth place, five points off the last European spot.

Those three games were rescheduled to help PSG, Marseille and Lille prepare for European games.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

"

Article Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved.