PARIS: Layvin Kurzawa scored a second-half goal as a lacklustre Paris St Germain moved top of the Ligue 1 table with a 1-0 victory at Angers on Saturday.

Fullback Kurzawa volleyed home for his first goal of the season, allowing PSG to move onto 42 points from 20 games, provisionally two ahead of Olympique Lyonnais and three ahead of Lille.

Olympique de Marseille remained sixth on 32 points from 18 matches after slumping to an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat against third from bottom Nimes as Niclas Eliasson netted a second-half double.

PSG were without coach Mauricio Pochettino after he tested positive for the coronavirus, and his two assistants took charge.

However, it was an uninspiring performance PSG fans watching at home will quickly forget.

Kurzawa volleyed in neatly from just inside the penalty area with 20 minutes left, but his goal had a touch of fortune as a cross from the right hit an Angers defender and looped up invitingly.

Angers contained PSG comfortably in midfield but lacked a cutting edge going forward.

Marseille’s hopes of staying in the title race were dealt another blow earlier as Florian Thauvin missed a penalty against Nimes.

France World Cup winner Thauvin sent a woeful spot-kick wide in the first half and Swedish winger Eliasson then converted twice from close range after the break to give the away side an unassailable lead behind closed doors at the Velodrome.

Argentine forward Dario Benedetto pulled one back late on for Andre Villas-Boas’s side but this result left them with just one win in six Ligue 1 games.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021