Monaco Postpones PSG’s Ligue 1 Title After Beating Lille 1-0

After Monaco defeated Lille 1-0 on Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain will have to wait until this weekend to capture another French Ligue 1 championship.

Following PSG’s easy 4-1 victory against Lorient earlier in the day, a mistake by second-place Monaco in the last match of the day would solidify the Qatar-owned team’s title. Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe both scored twice as well.

But Youssouf Fofana’s goal in the second half was enough to give Monaco, who were winning, their fourth straight victory and a larger lead in second place.

With four games left, the Principality Club is the only team that may theoretically catch PSG; nonetheless, an 11-point deficit is undoubtedly unbridgeable.

When they play Le Havre, which is in danger of relegation, on Saturday, Luis Enrique’s team will have the opportunity to secure the title with a win.

The Parisians will have won a record-tying 12 French league titles, including 10 of those titles in the previous 12 seasons dating back to the beginning of the Qatar era, which completely changed Ligue 1.

With matches against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinal and Lyon in the French Cup final the following month, PSG may be aiming for a trifecta.

Despite making a number of changes, including resting stars Vitinha, Achraf Hakimi, and captain Marquinhos, they easily defeated relegation-threatened Lorient in Brittany.

“We carried out our duties. Despite making a lot of adjustments, we were serious and won all three points, according to Luis Enrique.

Concerning the possibility of winning the championship, he said, “We cannot receive our final grade as long as the school year is not completed.”

“What’s going on is fascinating. Although we are getting close, we still have one month left in the season and additional tasks to do.

Regarding the June 1 Champions League final at Wembley, the Spaniard said, “There are seven or eight matches left, and to get to the eighth,, we will need to remain fully focused.”

At the Stade du Moustoir, in minute 19, Dembele gave PSG the lead. He came in from the right side, collected a ball from Senny Mayulu, and sent a low effort into the bottom-left corner.

Mbappe scored 43 goals.

Halfway through the first half, Nuno Mendes clipped the ball back for Mbappe, doubling their advantage.

PSG aimed to extend their winning streak in Ligue 1 to 25 games dating back to September and their lone defeat of the season, which came at home against Nice.

On the other hand, Lorient wanted to escape an inevitable relegation spot and avoid losing for the fourth time in a row.

On the hour mark, Mbappe showed incredible technique to evade Nathaniel Adjei on the touchline to the left of the box and then squared low for Dembele to tap in the third goal.

Dembele now has five goals for the season after scoring in both of the two legs of his team’s quarterfinal Champions League victory against Barcelona.

After 73 minutes, Lorient equalized by a header from Ivorian striker Mohamed Bamba, thanks to a cross from Benjamin Mendy.

But in the ninetieth minute, Mbappe’s signature shot over the goalkeeper from the left side of the box sealed the victory for PSG.

With 26 of those goals coming in Ligue 1, Mbappe now has 43 goals for the season in 43 games across all competitions.

With their victory, Monaco now sits five points clear of third-place Brest and six ahead of Lille in fourth, ensuring that an unlikely return to the Champions League for Adi Huetter’s team—their first since 2018–19—is in store.

The club in fourth place will play in the preliminary stages of the new, enlarged Champions League, which will automatically qualify the top three teams in Ligue 1.

Nice, in fifth position, drew 2-2 at Marseille on Wednesday, and Lille is four points ahead of them.

Nice took the lead thanks to a goal from Terem Moffi, but Jonathan Clauss pulled one back for Marseille, who then had Faris Moumbagna sent off at the interval.

Emerick Pierre Next, Aubameyang scored his 26th goal of the season overall for 10-man Marseille from a penalty kick.

But Nice’s Melvin Bard equalized, and Marseille is now one point below seventh place, which, depending on the result of the French Cup final, may yet be enough to get them into Europe.