PSG beat Lyon 2-0 with late goals to claim Ligue 1 top spot

By Halis Sunnetci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Paris Saint-Germain returned to the top of the French Ligue 1 standings with a 2-0 home victory over Olympique Lyonnais on Monday courtesy of second-half goals from Senny Mayulu and Mika Godts.

PSG struggled to break down Lyon's defense at the Parc des Princes before substitute Mayulu opened the scoring in the 72nd minute and fellow substitute Godts doubled the advantage 12 minutes later.

The hosts came close to opening the scoring in the 22nd minute when Ferran Torres fired narrowly wide from the edge of the box before forcing goalkeeper Dominik Greif into a save moments later.

Lyon responded with two dangerous chances, but PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov denied Julien Duranville's effort following a counterattack in the 31st minute before saving Zachary Athekame's long-range strike two minutes later.

The teams entered halftime goalless.

The hosts continued to press after the break, with Joao Neves attempting an overhead kick in the 53rd minute following Achraf Hakimi's headed pass, but his effort flew over the crossbar.

Desire Doue then came close in the 61st minute, curling a shot narrowly wide of the far post after collecting Fabian Ruiz's pass.

PSG finally broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute when Godts pulled the ball back to the edge of the penalty area for Mayulu, who unleashed a powerful low strike past Greif.

Godts doubled the hosts' advantage in the 84th minute, finishing a swift counterattack after Quentin Ndjantou played him through, with his shot finding the net off the far post.

The victory lifted PSG back to the top of Ligue 1 with 17 points after eight matches, while Lyon dropped to fifth place with 14 points.

PSG's return to the summit marked a turnaround from their worst start to a Ligue 1 campaign in 19 years, having collected just two points from their opening three matches before recovering with five consecutive league victories.

Halis Sünnetci