LONDON: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, fresh from a three-match ban, sparked Paris St Germain’s 2-0 win at Nantes, moving them a step closer to third straight Ligue 1title on Sunday while Valencia boosted their hopes of claiming a Champions League place next season with a 3-1 victory over Eibar in La Liga.

Borussia Moenchengladbach stayed firmly on track for a top three finish in the Bundesliga and a place in next season’s Champions League after an 85th-minute goal from substitute Ibrahima Traore gave them a 2-1 win at Hertha Berlin while Napoli stayed in the race for a place in Europe’s premier club competition from Serie A with a 3-0 home win over a demoralised AC Milan.

THREE POINTS CLEAR

Ibrahimovic had missed the three previous games for insulting officials after a league match against Bordeaux at the end of March and had a hand in both goals, notably playing the ball between Nantes’ captain Oswaldo Vizcarrondo’s legs to set up Blaise Matuidi’s clincher on the half-hour.

Edinson Cavani had pounced as early as the third minute after the Swede had sparked a goalmouth scramble with a snap shot as PSG moved to

three points clear of Olympique Lyon who had scaled the summit on Saturday on goal difference after beating Evian Thonon Gaillard 2-0.

PSG have 74 points with three games of the season remaining while Monaco’s Portuguese duo Bernard Silva and Joao Moutinho set up a 4-1 hammering of Toulouse that took their team five points clear of their closest pursuers for Ligue 1’s third and final Champions League spot.

Silva’s early goal, an Anthony Martial penalty, Moutinho’s effort after the break and Valere Germain’s late strike sealed the win for Leonardo Jardim’s side with Dane Martin Braithwaite briefly having brought parity for Toulouse as Monaco moved to 65 points, with Marseille and St Etienne on 60.

BULLET HEADER

A bullet header from Nicolas Otamendi put Valencia on course for victory over Eibar to strengthen their grip on fourth place in La Liga and establish a three-point lead over Sevilla after they were beaten 3-2 by Real Madrid on Saturday.

Valencia, who occupy the Champions League playoff spot, are four points off Atletico Madrid in the third automatic berth after Diego Simeone’s side were held 0-0 at home by Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

“This will be decided at the very end,” Valencia coach Nuno Espirito Santo said. “Nothing is guaranteed, but you can’t deny that we have the possibility to go even higher.”

Otamendi was left unmarked to thump in Jose Gaya’s cross to put Valencia on their way in the 25th minute at the Mestalla and captain Dani Parejo then made the points safe for Valencia with a deflected effort just before the hour mark before Paco Alcacer tapped in a rebound in the 71st with Mikel Arruabarrena scored Eibar’s goal six minutes from time.

TRAORE STRIKE

Guinea international Traore curled a superb shot past Hertha keeper Thomas Kraft to lift Gladbach to 60 points, two ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who beat already-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday.

Gladbach, who are also just two behind second-placed VfL Wolfsburg with three matches left to play, took the lead through Max Kruse from close range in the 11th minute but only two minutes later Hertha levelled with Swiss Valentin Stocker’s header.

Traore came on after 73 minutes and scored his first goal for Gladbach since joining from Stuttgart last year, drilling home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box.

Leverkusen and Moenchengladbach will square off on Saturday in a key clash with the top three in Germany qualifying directly for the Champions League while the fourth team needs to play a qualifying round.

“Now we’re looking forward to playing Leverkusen, we really want to win that to achieve our goal of direct Champions League qualification,” said Gladbach midfielder Granit Xhaka.

DEMORALISED MILAN

Napoli, fourth in Serie A, moved to within four points of Lazio and the final Champions League berth after they won at home against Milan, who held out for 70 minutes with 10 men after Mattia De Sciglio was sent off after just 49 seconds and gave away a penalty in the process.

Milan goalkeeper Diego Lopez saved Gonzalo Higuain’s effort and his side held out until the 70th minute, when Marek Hamsik, Higuain and Manolo Gabbiadini scored in a six-minute spell with Napoli coach Rafa Benitez resting several players ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final.

Lazio, on 63 points, occupy third place which earns a place in the playoff round in next season’s Champions League.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

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