French forward Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain (C) celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal against Troyes at the Stade de l’Aube in Troyes, northeastern France
After a difficult week for the club controlled by Qatar, Paris Saint-Germain put their quest for a record 11th French league title back on track by defeating Troyes 3-1 on Sunday.
Angeres fans demonstrated outside the club’s headquarters and at the residence of injured Brazilian star Neymar after PSG’s home defeat to Lorient the previous weekend.
The club suspended Lionel Messi for a reported two weeks when he traveled to Saudi Arabia without permission, heightening the sense of urgency.
The victory over the relegation-threatened Troyes, however, along with Marseille’s 2-1 loss to Lens on Saturday, gave PSG a six-point lead over Lens in the standings.
After seven minutes, Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring with a close-range header, tying Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette for the league lead with 24 goals this year.
PSG appeared to be headed for victory after Vitinha’s right-footed finish in the 58th minute, but they let their guard down, allowing Troyes to score when Xavier Chavalerin headed the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
After Mbappe’s poked finish from Renato Sanches was saved, PSG pushed forward in search of a third goal, and Fabian Ruiz curled in the rebound to secure the three points.
In a spectacular performance, former Arsenal forward Lacazette scored four goals, including a penalty with the game’s final shot as Lyon rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat Montpellier 5-4.
“I believed in it,” said Lacazette. “I believed because I know a game is never over and lasts 90 minutes.”
Elye Wahi added four goals to his four assists for the visitors, who had a 4-1 advantage after 55 minutes of play.
The clubs above them, Lille and Rennes, committed mistakes on Saturday, and Lyon took advantage of this to advance their chances of qualifying for Europe.
After spending five seasons with Arsenal, the 31-year-old Lacazette returned to Lyon last summer, and he gave his team the lead in the 30th minute.
Wahi, however, took advantage of mistakes made by midfielder Johann Lepenant and a foul committed by Dejan Lovren that resulted in a penalty, before capitalizing on yet another mistake to chip the ball over goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and continue to score to give Montpellier a 4-1 lead.
In the 59th minute, Lacazette ignited the comeback by converting on a cross from Bradley Barcola.
Lovren scored with a header in the 70th minute, and Lacazette equalized in the 82nd minute thanks to another Barcola pass.
When Barcola blazed over nine minutes into extra time, Lyon’s final chance to win appeared to be gone. Referee Clement Turpin decided after reviewing the sequence of events that Christopher Jullien had wrestled Lacazette to the ground.
To cap a Ԁгаматιc comeback victory, the striker hammered home the penalty.
As a result, Lyon fell three points short of Lille, who is currently in fifth position.
With a 2-1 victory at Angers earlier in the day, Monaco moved into fourth place, five points ahead of Lille.
Meanwhile, Nantes fell 2-0 to relegation rivals Strasbourg at home, accelerating their descent into Ligue 2.
They remain 17th in the 20-team league, although this year four clubs are eliminated because Ligue 1 will only have 18 teams the next year.
Nantes now trails Auxerre in the 16th position by two points after beginning the day only behind Strasbourg on goal differential.
“We’re not good, but 16th place is just two points away. It’s in our hands,” said Nantes coach Antoine Kombouare.