Returning on the hour mark, Kylian Mbappé scored to help Paris SG jump to the top of the Ligue 1 standings by winning (2-0) in Nantes, not without trembling, on Saturday, for the 22nd day . With the defeat of the runner-up, Nice, in Lyon (1-0), Friday, the capital club provisionally increases its lead to 14 points over the Aiglons, even if Monaco, which hosts Toulouse, and Brest, which hosts Marseille, could return to 12 or 13 points respectively in the event of success on Sunday.
Bad luck pursues Nantes
Nantes remains in a 13th place, more fragile than it seems, three steps ahead of Lorient, 16th and virtual play-off, which will host the Canaries next Saturday. Although heavily dominated, Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men can curse their lack of realism and a concentrated and impeccable Gianluigi Donnarumma throughout the match.
Defensively, they reduced Paris for a long time, with their 3-5-2, to an extremely sterile game where long sequences around the opposing surface ended with generally not dangerous crosses. A curled cross from Bradley Barcola, on which Remy Descamps had to relax on his left (10th) and a bell ball, on the corner which followed, which had bounced off the top of the bar, were the only alerts one not very serious in the first act, on the Parisian side.
Conversely, Paris almost got punished several times just before the break. Lucas Hernandez had to throw himself at the feet of Douglas Augusto, six meters away, on a very nice serve from Jean-Charles Castelleto (45th). A few seconds later, following a disagreement with Danilo, Donnarumma, with the tip of his foot, prevented Mostafa Mohamed from scoring, before Marquinhos, on the line, diverted Nicolas Cozza’s recovery (45+1).
Returning from the locker room, Nicolas Pallois, enormous in defense at 36, struck from more than 35 meters, forcing Donnarumma to slam the ball over his crossbar (54th) and the Italian goalkeeper was again decisive in the 70th in front Mohamed, and in the 80th, by deflecting a shot from Chirivella, from close range, onto his post. And despite all the mastery that Paris demonstrated during the match, it especially took full advantage of the lack of realism and the certain bad luck that has been pursuing Nantes for several weeks.
Mbappé did not need to be asked
While Mbappé had finished his warm-up and was preparing to enter the field, it was a seemingly innocuous strike from Lucas Hernandez, deflected by Moussa Sissoko, which deceived Descamps (0-1, 60th) to break the yellow wall .
The entry into play of the duo Mbappé/Ousmane Dembélé revitalized the Parisian attack and the center forward obtained a penalty on an outside hook which forced Douglas Augusto to involuntarily mow it down. If he seemed a little sullen when he arrived at the stadium, Mbappé was quick to convert the sanction and score his 21st goal, a few days after the announcement of his upcoming departure from the club (0-2, 78th ).
Without necessarily being brilliant, Paris moved a little closer to a new French champion title and this success allows it to maintain a semblance of normality for a club in the midst of upheaval.