Paris St-Germain were crowned
French champions for the third
consecutive season after a hard-
fought away victory over Montpellier.
PSG needed only a point to be certain of
becomin
g only the fourth Ligue 1 club to
win three consecutive titles.
France midfielder Blaise Matuidi and
Argentina forward Ezequiel Lavezzi gave
the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Montpellier forward Anthony Mounier
pulled one back for the home side but
Laurent Blanc's men held on.
Now PSG are aiming to become the first
team to win a Ligue 1, French Cup and
French League Cup treble.
They lifted the Coupe de la Ligue with a
4-0 win against Bastia last month and
face second-tier Auxerre in the Coupe de
France final on 30 May.
Laurent Blanc has won Ligue 1
in each of his two seasons at
PSG, adding to his title success
at Bordeaux in 2009
PSG were without Zlatan Ibrahimovic,
who missed the game with a calf injury,
and in the Sweden striker's absence they
were not quite at their fluent attacking
best.
In their previous four matches PSG had
scored 17 goals with eye-catching wins
over both Lille and Guingamp where they
scored six goals.
Blanc's side created plenty of chances
but were only able to secure victory by a
narrow advantage after Montpellier, who
had the slim hope of securing a Europa
League place before kick-off, pushed
them right to the end.
Matuidi, who said this week he does not
want to leave PSG after being linked with
a move to the English Premier League,
opened the scoring in the 17th minute.
He broke through the home side's
defence and took a neat touch before he
stroked the ball into the corner of the
net.
Lavezzi added a second with a crisp finish
from Serge Aurier's low right-wing cross
which beat the dive of Montpellier
goalkeeper Jonathan Ligali.
Mounier reduced the deficit five minutes
before the break when he swung in a
left-footed cross and the ball sailed over
the head of Salvatore Sirigu in the PSG
goal and into the net.
Elsewhere, Lyon secured second spot
after a 1-1 draw with Bordeaux, while
the race for the third and final
Champions League place will go down to
the final weekend.
Monaco are currently in third spot after
a 2-0 win over Metz but should they slip
up Marseille and St-Etienne are poised.
Marseille were 4-0 winners over Lille
while St-Etienne claimed a 2-0 success
over Evian, who are now relegated to
Ligue 2 along with Metz and Lens.
PSG are the French champions
for the fifth time in their 45-
year history after previous
successes in 1985-86,
1993-94, 2012-13, 2013-14
and 2014-15
PSG won their eighth
consecutive top-flight game,
equalling their record in Ligue
French champions for the third
consecutive season after a hard-
fought away victory over Montpellier.
PSG needed only a point to be certain of
becomin
g only the fourth Ligue 1 club to
win three consecutive titles.
France midfielder Blaise Matuidi and
Argentina forward Ezequiel Lavezzi gave
the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Montpellier forward Anthony Mounier
pulled one back for the home side but
Laurent Blanc's men held on.
Now PSG are aiming to become the first
team to win a Ligue 1, French Cup and
French League Cup treble.
They lifted the Coupe de la Ligue with a
4-0 win against Bastia last month and
face second-tier Auxerre in the Coupe de
France final on 30 May.
Laurent Blanc has won Ligue 1
in each of his two seasons at
PSG, adding to his title success
at Bordeaux in 2009
PSG were without Zlatan Ibrahimovic,
who missed the game with a calf injury,
and in the Sweden striker's absence they
were not quite at their fluent attacking
best.
In their previous four matches PSG had
scored 17 goals with eye-catching wins
over both Lille and Guingamp where they
scored six goals.
Blanc's side created plenty of chances
but were only able to secure victory by a
narrow advantage after Montpellier, who
had the slim hope of securing a Europa
League place before kick-off, pushed
them right to the end.
Matuidi, who said this week he does not
want to leave PSG after being linked with
a move to the English Premier League,
opened the scoring in the 17th minute.
He broke through the home side's
defence and took a neat touch before he
stroked the ball into the corner of the
net.
Lavezzi added a second with a crisp finish
from Serge Aurier's low right-wing cross
which beat the dive of Montpellier
goalkeeper Jonathan Ligali.
Mounier reduced the deficit five minutes
before the break when he swung in a
left-footed cross and the ball sailed over
the head of Salvatore Sirigu in the PSG
goal and into the net.
Elsewhere, Lyon secured second spot
after a 1-1 draw with Bordeaux, while
the race for the third and final
Champions League place will go down to
the final weekend.
Monaco are currently in third spot after
a 2-0 win over Metz but should they slip
up Marseille and St-Etienne are poised.
Marseille were 4-0 winners over Lille
while St-Etienne claimed a 2-0 success
over Evian, who are now relegated to
Ligue 2 along with Metz and Lens.
PSG are the French champions
for the fifth time in their 45-
year history after previous
successes in 1985-86,
1993-94, 2012-13, 2013-14
and 2014-15
PSG won their eighth
consecutive top-flight game,
equalling their record in Ligue
0 comments:
Post a Comment