Paris Saint-Germain extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to four points with a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to Le Havre.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to four points with a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to Le Havre on Saturday.
The reigning European champions capitalised on title rivals Lens dropping points in a 1-1 draw at Strasbourg the previous day.
Bradley Barcola scored the only goal, heading in from a Lee Kang-in cross on 37 minutes for his ninth goal of the season.
It was not a full-strength PSG, with Ousmane Dembele, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves injured while skipper Marquinhos was rested.
Le Havre substitute Desire Doue won a penalty with just over 10 minutes remaining but saw his kick saved by goalkeeper Mory Diaw.
PSG have converted only five of their 10 spot-kicks this season.
Diaw also produced a fine reaction save from Nuno Mendes while PSG goalkeeper Matfei Safonov made a key stop to deny Issa Soumare.
“There are no nice and easy games for PSG because every match is important,” said coach Luis Enrique.
“We need to get players back and improve because we have less confidence than usual at the moment.”
PSG have now won nine out of 10 Ligue 1 games played since the start of December.
“It is the first time we have had a four-point gap at the top so this is a time for us to be happy,” added Enrique.
“It was important to get the win here.”
Elsewhere, Rennes made it two wins from two under new coach Franck Haise with a 1-0 victory over Toulouse.
Monaco beat Angers 2-0 with goals from Folarin Balogun and Simon Adingra.
Balogun, a key player for the United States, now has 12 goals this season in all competitions.
In other news, Pablo Longoria left his position as Marseille president on Saturday evening.
The Spaniard departed after five years to be replaced on an interim basis by Alban Juster.
Longoria’s exit comes amid turbulence at the club, which saw coach Roberto De Zerbi leave just under three weeks ago.
De Zerbi has been replaced in the dugout by Habib Beye.
