Ligue 1, Wednesday Wrap: Paris Saint-Germain Back In Title Race

Montpellier could have all but put the title race to bed this week in Ligue 1, but it’s still going thanks to their draw on Tuesday and PSG’s win on Wednesday. The gap between Montpellier and PSG is down to just three points with three games remaining. In other parts of the table, Lyon got back into a Europa League place and the relegation race stayed a giant mess.

Ajaccio are now a full three points clear of the drop and Sochaux are stuck in 19th place. They managed eight shots, three shots on target, had 35 percent possession and Ajaccio missed a penalty, so this score is flattering. Someone please free Marvin Martin.

Rennes are now behind Lyon and out of Europe, as it stands. Yann M’Vila played 90 minutes in this match even though he had a little run-in with the cops a couple of days ago. Ludovic Obraniak scored his fourth goal in the new year to open the scoring and Landry N’Guemo sealed the win with Bordeaux’s second, assisted by wonderkid turned game-changing sub Henri Saivet.

You know what’s going to be fun? When Etienne Capoue goes to a mid-table Premier League team and everyone goes OMG WTF THIS GUY CAME FROM NOWHERE. Toulouse’s defensive midfielders were the only thing that was okay about this game being a thing.

Both of these teams are on 38 points and are four points clear of the drop after this match. They’re probably both safe. Thomas Heurtaux scored the winner with an impressive strike from outside the box.

Perhaps this was payback for the first meeting between these two teams, in which Lyon were putrid in a 1-0 defeat. This one was actually in doubt for a while, but Lyon poured it on late. Lisandro Lopez netted the opener in the 35th minute but Lyon gave away a penalty just three minutes later, which Renaud Cohade converted. The second half featured Lyon pouring it on with goals from Cris, Lopez and Jimmy Briand. They’re now two points ahead of Rennes for fourth.

Aww, Marseille are up to 10th. Good for them.

As if Lyon had any hope of regaining 3rd place, that hope was dashed on Wednesday with Lille’s win. They’re two points behind PSG and five behind Montpellier, so they’re not mathematically out of the title race and they’re not even realistically out of the race for the automatic Champions League spot in second. Tulio De Melo scored the game’s only goal in the 6th minute and Nice didn’t really do anything to push for an equalizer.

PSG scored the opening goal and eventual winner on a penalty given for a very hard, dumb foul by Sylvain Marcal. Boooooo. Javier Pastore scored the second goal in the the 89th minute from open play. Yaaaay.