PARIS: Lille showed they are serious contenders to win Ligue 1 by beating Nice 2-0 to stay one point ahead of Paris St Germain on Saturday.

Defending champions PSG scraped past Lens 2-1 at home to pressure Lille, and Christophe Galtier’s Lille side responded.

Veteran Turkey striker Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a low strike from just outside the penalty area. After Nice defender Jordan Lotomba was sent off just after the break, Yilmaz’s countryman, Mehmet Celik, struck in a crisp shot from 20 metres in the 56th.

If Lille win their final three games against Lens, Saint-Etienne and Angers, they will be champions for the first time since 2011.

“Three points, a clean sheet, it’s good,” captain Jose Fonte told broadcaster Canal+. “It was important to win at home because we hadn’t won here for a while, and the battles goes on. We have three difficult games left and we just need to keep fighting.”

Neymar scored one goal and set up the other for Marquinhos as PSG edged Lens at home to claim a vital three points in between the two legs of their Champions League semi-final against Manchester City.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino made six changes to his team from the first leg which PSG lost 2-1 against Pep Guardiola’s side, with Kylian Mbappe watching from the stands because of a slight calf injury.

“It was a very difficult game, Lens plays very good football. I really like their style of play and we suffered,” Pochettino said. “We had to work hard for this win.”

Angel Di Maria was also rested but Neymar started and pounced when Argentine defender Facundo Medina gave the ball away under pressure to run through and score PSG’s opener in the 33rd minute, his seventh league goal of the campaign.

Marquinhos then headed in a Neymar corner to make it 2-0 just before the hour mark. But Lens exposed poor PSG defending when it scored straight from the restart as striker Ignatius Ganogo slotted home following a fine team move.

Lens stayed in fifth place and the Europa League spot but was level on points with Olympique de Marseille.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2021