Soccer-PSG Cling On To Title Hopes As Leaders Lille Held

PARIS: Paris St Germain clung on to their hopes of winning a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title with a 4-0 home win against 10-man Stade de Reims as Lille’s lead was cut to a single point with one game remaining on Sunday.

As PSG cruised to a routine victory, Lille, who have 80 points, were held to a goalless draw by mid-table St Etienne and now need a win at Angers in the final round to guarantee them a first title since 2011.

Monaco stayed third on 77 points, one win away from guaranteeing a Champions League spot, as goals by Wissam Ben Yedder and Aleksandr Golovin earned them a 2-1 home victory against Stade Rennais.

They lead fourth-placed Olympique Lyonnais, in the first of two Europa League spots, by one point after Rudi Garcia’s team secured a 5-2 win at Nimes thanks to a double by Lucas Paqueta and goals by Memphis Depay, Houssem Aouar and Islam Slimani.

Second-from-bottom Nimes were relegated to Ligue 2.

Six teams — Reims, Bordeaux, Racing Strasbourg, Brest, Lorient and Nantes – are separated by two points and will battle to avoid finishing 18th, which would mean taking part in a relegation playoff.

Olympique Marseille, on 59 points, occupy the other Europa League spot in fifth place as Arkadiusz Milik’s hat-trick gave them a 3-2 win against Angers, while RC Lens (56) are sixth following a 3-0 loss at Girondins de Bordeaux.

At the Parc des Princes, PSG were never troubled by a Reims side who played most of the game with 10 men in a warm-up before Wednesday’s French Cup final against Monaco.

Neymar converted a penalty in the 13th minute after Yunis Abdelhamid handled the ball in the area and picked up a straight red card in the process.

Kylian Mbappe doubled the advantage in the 24th, firing home from a terrible clearance by Thomas Foket.

Marquinhos added a third with a downward header on 68 minutes and Moise Kean netted a fourth from just inside the box.

Lille lacked inspiration against a sturdy St Etienne side and missed out on securing a victory that would have allowed them to head into the final round needing only a draw when Yusuf Yazici’s free kick crashed onto the far post in the last minute.

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