Havana, February 2 (RHC) – Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defeated Strasbourg 2-1 in the final match of the 20th round of French football and regained the lead that had been taken by Lens.
Playing away at the Stade de la Meinau, with ten men and just minutes from the final whistle, the Red and Blues defeated a tough opponent who threatened to snatch a point, but in the 81st minute, Portuguese full-back Nuno Mendes sealed the victory.
The win took PSG to 48 points in Ligue 1, two more than the surprising Lens, although a draw would also have been enough for them to reclaim the top spot, thanks to a better goal difference than the Blood and Gold.
Parisian coach Luis Enrique rested several key players and in the second half, changed his attacking trident of Bradley Barcola, Senny Mayulu, and Ibrahim Mbaye to Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, and Lee Kang-in, the latter providing a spark despite the numerical disadvantage following Achraf Hakimi’s dismissal in the 75th minute.
In addition to Mendes, Mayulu scored for PSG (22nd minute), while Guéla Doué (27th minute) scored for Strasbourg, who remained in seventh place with 30 points.
Olympique Lyonnais also defeated Lille 1-0, drawing level with Olympique de Marseille on 39 points in the battle for the top three, although Marseille retained third place due to a superior goal difference. In the other results from Matchday 20, Angers beat bottom-placed Metz 1-0, while Nice and Brest drew 2-2 and Toulouse and Auxerre played to a 0-0 draw.
