PARIS: Paris St Germain striker Ezequiel Lavezzi scored one of the best goals of the season so far in a 1-0 win over Stade Rennes that lifted the defending champions provisionally within one point of Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon on Friday.

The capital club’s third league win in a row helped them move to 47 points from 23 games but Lyon, who face PSG in 10 days’ time, can restore their four-point lead with victory at Monaco on Sunday.

Lavezzi’s goal was the only highlight of a close battle at the Parc des Princes with few chances, as PSG had just two shots on target.

The Argentina forward finished off a superb collective move in the 29th minute with a left-foot shot from close range for his first league goal in more than two months.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Javier Patore and Adrien Rabiot were all involved in the build-up with a succession of quick passes that opened the Rennes defense, before Pastore set Lavezzi up with a fine touch.

“I would have liked to have had a bigger victory, but we kept a clean sheet. That’s satisfying,” said PSG coach Laurent Blanc. “We scored a very good goal but we expect more up front.”

Published in Dawn February 1st, 2015

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