PSG open up eight-point gap with 2-0 win over Lens

Just one league match into 2024, Paris Saint-Germain are already putting more daylight between the defending champions and their rivals for the French league title.

PSG resumed their campaign on Sunday with a 2-0 win at last season’s runners-up Lens to extend their lead at the top to eight points.

Second-placed Nice lost ground when they were beaten 2-0 by Rennes on Saturday.

Lens had the opportunity to take the lead in the fifth minute, but PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma decided otherwise and stopped Przemyslaw Frankowski’s penalty.

Forward Bradley Barcola was just as decisive for PSG, first by breaking the deadlock near the half-hour mark, then by earning the foul that led to Lens defender Jonathan Gradit’s sending off just before half-time.

Kylian Mbappe wrapped up PSG’s win with three minutes left with his 19th league goal this season.

Earlier Danilo found the unmarked Mbappe on the break, and the league’s top scorer set up the 21-year-old Barcola perfectly with a through ball.

The former Lyon player won his duel with goalkeeper Brice Samba and scored with his right foot to give PSG the lead in the 29th minute.

Things went from bad to worse for the home team when Gradit was shown a red card after a VAR review following a big foul on Barcola, who had dribbled past several opponents and was approaching the box.

PSG coach Luis Enrique had to make up for the absence of Achraf Hakimi, who travelled to the African Cup with Morocco.

He gave a starting spot to Carlos Soler at right-back in a 4-3-3 system, with Barcola starting in attack alongside Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.

Ten-man Lens continued to attack after the interval and the match remained tense until the very end, with both teams having chances to score but lacking an edge in the final third.

Mbappe kept insisting and finally found the net from a tight angle from Dembele’s assist at the end of a counter-attack.

Lens remained in eighth place, 17 points behind PSG.

Canada’s Jonathan David scored his sixth goal of the season on his 24th birthday as Lille ended a three-match winless run with a 3-0 win against Lorient.

David broke the deadlock in the 37th minute from a set piece when he headed the ball home at the far post from Angel Gomes’s cross.

The result moved Lille to fifth in the standings, just two points behind fourth-place Monaco.

Lorient dropped to last place, with only two wins from 18 matches.

Lille was in control and created several other chances before Remy Cabella made it 2-0 with three minutes left to play with a left-footed shot from close range.

Forward Edon Zhegrova was dangerous throughout the afternoon and was rewarded with a goal in added time.

Brest posted a fourth consecutive win – 2-0 at Montpellier – to move into the top three.

Goals from Hugo Magnetti and Jeremy Le Douaron ensured a 10th win in 18 matches for the small Brittany side, who are unbeaten since November and leapfrogged Monaco in the standings.

In other matches, an early penalty from Vincent Sierro helped struggling Toulouse to a 1-0 win at Metz, ending a 10-game winless run for the southwestern side.

Clermont rose from last place to 17th after beating Nantes 2-1, and Le Havre defeated Lyon 3-1.

Lyon played with 10 men for more than an hour after Jake O’Brien was shown a red card in the 29th minute. They finished the match with nine players after Duje Caleta-Car’s dismissal in the closing stages.