PARIS: Paris St Germain suffered their third defeat of the season and free-scoring Monaco went top of Ligue 1 as an unsavoury incident at Metz marred the Ligue 1 on Saturday night.

The Metz v Olympique Lyonnais game was abandoned after 31 minutes when firecrackers were thrown close to visiting goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, who was taken to a hospital for checks.

With the home side leading 1-0 through Gauthier Hein’s 29th-minute opener, both teams were sent to the dressing room by referee Lionel Jaffredo after a second firecracker exploded at the feet of Lopes as he was being treated by medical staff.

The game was called off after a 45-minute interruption.

Elsewhere, Monaco’s scoring spree resumed as they demolished visiting Bastia 5-0 thanks to a Radamel Falcao double and goals by Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar and Guido Carrillo at the Stade Louis II.

Leonardo Jardim’s side rebounded from the disappointment of Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Dijon to provisionally head the standings with 36 points, on goal difference from Nice.

They are a point ahead of French champions PSG, in third, after they were humbled 3-0 at Montpellier earlier on Saturday.

PSG’s five-match winning run in the league was ended in stunning fashion by Montpellier as the 2011-12 champions struck just before half-time through Paul Lasne with Ellyes Skhiri adding a second shortly after the break.

Ryad Boudebouz capped a remarkable afternoon at the Stade de la Mosson with a terrific individual goal 10 minutes from time.

In other games on Saturday, Angers and Lorient drew 2-2, while Lille grabbed a 1-0 victory at Bordeaux. Guingamp defeated Nantes 2-0.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2016