Paris Saint-Germain moved to the brink of a record-extending 12th Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 victory over relegation-threatened Lorient, as the Parisians’ unbeaten run in the league reached 25 matches.A lack of goals has undone Lorient of late, as they’ve failed to score in four of their last five matches – losing each time they blanked. That familiar feeling greeted them in the early stages here too, as after being picked out by Imran Louza’s pullback, Gedeon Kalulu stroked a glorious chance wide of the target. That seemed to spark PSG into life, and by the 20-minute mark, the defending champions were ahead. The in-form Ousmane Dembélé cut inside two defenders from the right and expertly placed his shot in the bottom corner to open the scoring in style.
Now in their groove, it took the visitors less than three minutes to double their advantage. After starting off the move by finding Nuno Mendes on the left, Kylian Mbappé got the end of the full-back’s pass with an exquisitely delicate flick into the far corner. The game already looked beyond Lorient, but it still took a Gordon Banks-esque save from Gianluigi Donnarumma to prevent the hosts from reducing the arrears, as the Italian incredibly scooped Tiémoué Bakayoko’s header off the goalline.
If the contest wasn’t already over before the interval, Lorient’s reserved nature following the restart left them with no chance of staging a comeback. And by the hour mark, a piece of utter genius from Mbappé put PSG out of sight. Up against the byline on the left, the Frenchman toyed with Nathaniel Adjei, turning him inside and out before breezing past the defender and squaring to Dembélé, who couldn’t miss from point-blank range.
Limiting the damage on their goal difference was now the hosts’ main objective, and a consolation strike from Mohamed Bamba, whose powerful header burst through the hands of a despairing Donnarumma, certainly helped in that respect. Much to Luis Enrique’s frustration, that led to a wave of late Lorient pressure, though Mbappé soon put that to bed with another sumptuous finish to restore the visitors’ three-goal advantage.
PSG now sit within touching distance of the title, as an Monaco slip-up against Lille later on – or a victory in their next outing – would seal another Ligue 1 crown for the Parisians. Lorient, meanwhile, are hanging onto their status in the division as they sit three points from safety with just four games remaining.LIGUE 1 – MATCHDAY 29WednesdayLorient – PSG 1-4 (0-2)/Bamba 73 – Dembele 19, 60, Mbappe 22, 90/22:00 (2.45) Monaco ( ) Lille (3.50)22:00 (2.50) Marseille (3.25) Nice (3.15)***odds are subject to change***