PARIS: Paris St-Germain were left stunned after they were beaten 3-1 by Toulouse on Sunday, with the newly-crowned champions slumping to only their second Ligue 1 defeat this season.
Luis Enrique’s side struggled for form after their midweek Champions League semi-final loss to Borussia Dortmund and remain on 70 points from 32 games, six clear of second-placed AS Monaco with two games remaining.
“This defeat spoils the party a bit. It’s always frustrating, even if you’re champion, to lose like that in front of your home crowd,” PSG forward Ousmane Dembele told Canal+.
Kylian Mbappe, who confirmed on Friday that he will leave PSG at the end of the season, opened the scoring after eight minutes but Toulouse equalised five minutes later through Thijs Dalling before Yann Gboho put the visitors ahead with a superb curling effort into the top right corner.
Frank Magri’s stoppage-time strike sealed the win for Toulouse, who are 10th in the standings.
PSG visit Nice on Wednesday before their final league game against Metz and the French Cup final on May 25.
Meanwhile, second-half goals from Kassoum Ouattara and Youssouf Fofana earned Monaco a 2-0 away win over Montpellier to secure second place and a return to the Champions League.
They will return to Champions League’s group stage for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
Elsewhere, Lille moved up into third place above Brest on goal difference as Jonathan David netted twice in their 2-1 win at Nantes.
\In Sunday’s other fixtures, RC Lens drew 1-1 at Rennes to hold onto sixth, while Orel Mangala’s goal gave Olympique Lyonnais a 1-0 win at Clermont Foot as they kept their European hopes alive.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Olympique de Marseille beat Lorient 3-1 to also remain in the European picture.
At the bottom, Clermont’s defeat means they are relegated, while Lorient are almost certainly down too as they trail Metz by three points with one game left and have an inferior goal difference.
Metz, who lost 2-1 at Strasbourg, are therefore set to go into a play-off against a team from Ligue 2 with a top-flight place for next season on the line.
Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2024