Paris, toast of France
Paris Saint-Germain sealed their first Ligue 1 title since 1994 with a 1-0 win at Lyon on Sunday.
Marseille’s 2-1 win over Toulouse on Saturday, their fourth success in a row, had ensured PSG would have to keep the champagne on ice until after their own game.
But former AC Milan winger Jeremy Menez scored the only goal of the game against a limp Lyon side and that proved enough to deliver the silverware.
“I am very happy, especially because it is not easy to win here,” said PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“We showed that we deserved the title. It was a difficult season, but after December we became more solid and compact and things went well.”
In a lively start both goalkeepers were called into early action, with PSG’s Nicolas Douchez clawing away a Baftembi Gomis header before Lyon’s Anthony Lopes was equally at full stretch to palm Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s lob away from his goal.
Mouhamadou Dabo was then in the right place on the line to block
a goalbound Ibrahimovic shot while Douchez resorted to an unconventional kick to clear his lines from Yassine Benzia’s sighter from long range.
Midway through the first period, slick PSG play saw Javier Pastore slip in Menez behind the backline but Lopes was quickly out to smoother the winger’s effort on goal.
The game seemed to be petering out into a tactical affair until Menez sparked it into life on 53 minutes.
Thiago Motta was the architect, robbing Maxime Gonalons in midfield before playing a one-two with Ibrahimovic and then feeding the unmarked Menez to fire left-footed across Lopes from 15 yards.
PSG came closest to notching another as Menez got down the left and crossed for Pastore, but the Argentine’s close-range shot was blocked by Lopes’s legs.
Lyon were matching PSG in terms of possession but could make little headway against the best defence in the league.
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