Team Lille in action© AFP

Gift Orban signed by Hoffenheim© X (Twitter)

Sunday’s Ligue 1 clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon, the two clubs who have taken turns dominating French football so far this century, pits the stuttering reigning champions against opponents who have hit a rich vein of form. PSG head into the final round of Ligue 1 games this calendar year unbeaten domestically and with a five-point lead from nearest challengers Marseille and Monaco at the top of the table. However, they have struggled to convince recently and have been held to draws in their last two domestic outings, against Nantes and Auxerre.

At least they breathed life into their faltering Champions League campaign in midweek, a 3-0 win at Red Bull Salzburg calming fears that they might not make the knockout phase of Europe’s elite club competition.

Even then, coach Luis Enrique suggested his team had played better in earlier games against PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid, neither of which they won.

“To be honest we didn’t play better than we did against PSV or Atletico. We were worse, but that’s football,” said the Spaniard.

All is far from rosy at the Parc des Princes, amid recent reports in the French media of a rift growing between the coach and certain players.

Their best performer this season has been young winger Bradley Barcola, who has scored 10 goals, but he has gone off the boil lately and will hope to find form again as he comes up against the club he left last year.

Lyon, who won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles in the first decade of this century, have often been a thorn in PSG’s side even if they have won just one of the last eight meetings of the clubs.

Afer stumbling in the early weeks of this campaign, they look in superb shape just now, on a run of nine games unbeaten and just one loss in 15 altogether.

They have won their last four matches and scored at least three goals in each of them, including an entertaining 3-2 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday.

That game, in which Rayan Cherki was outstanding, saw Lyon secure a place in the knockout phase play-offs of the Europa League at least.

Domestically, meanwhile, they are currently fifth and would be just six points behind PSG with a victory in the capital. They cannot be written off right now.

Player to watch: Rayan Cherki

The 21-year-old was a transfer target for PSG during the last close season but ended up staying at Lyon where he is now playing the best football of his career. 

The gifted winger or attacking midfielder may yet leave Lyon in January due to his current club’s need to raise funds in the transfer market.

That would be a blow for Lyon coach Pierre Sage, who has seen Cherki score two goals and set up three in two games over the last week. Sage feels his player deserves to be in the next France squad.

“I think today Rayan is being watched and is under consideration,” he said of a player who featured sparingly in the France side that won Olympic silver.

“His experience at the Olympics was not very positive but now he has other arguments in his favour and, if he gets a call-up, he will deserve it.”

Key stats

8 – Brest are enjoying a heroic campaign in the Champions League but have lost eight times in Ligue 1 this season — that is one more defeat than in all of the last campaign.

15 – Also doing well in the Champions League, Lille are unbeaten in 15 games before Saturday’s clash with Marseille.

6 – PSG have lost six times to Lyon in Ligue 1 since the transformative takeover of the club by Qatar in 2011. Only Rennes (7) have recorded more wins against Paris in that time.

Lille passed up the opportunity to go into the top three in Ligue 1 after a 96th-minute equaliser by Nice held them to a 2-2 draw on Sunday, while Lyon downed historic rivals Saint-Etienne. Tom Louchet slotted home deep in injury time to deny the visitors a win that would have taken them above Marseille and into the automatic Champions League qualification spots. Lille led twice in the match but were pegged back on both occasions by Nice, who now have five draws in their 11 league outings and are yet to lose at home this season.

“We deserved to take home all three points,” said Lille coach Bruno Genesio.

“But when you don’t do enough to win, you can get caught out… Maybe what happened to us was deserved,” he added.

Matias Fernandez-Pardo broke the deadlock inside the opening 20 minutes, before Sofiane Diop levelled early in the second period.

Mitchel Bakker sent the Dogues back in front after the hour but Nice struck back in the final moments to keep Lille fourth on 19 points.

Nice are two places behind them in the table on 17, after a stuttering start to the campaign.

Fernandez-Pardo opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he whipped a shot past Marcin Bulka at his near post following a marauding run up the left flank.

Nice dominated possession for the rest of the half but did not make it count as half-time substitute Diop levelled 11 minutes after his introduction.

Bakker restored Lille’s advantage on 66 minutes with a swept finish after Benjamin Andre showed good composure to pick him out in the box as his earlier effort came straight back off the post to him.

With the clock ticking down and Lille seemingly set for victory and to leapfrog Marseille into third, Nice loaded the box for a set-piece in one last desperate attempt to get something from the game.

The ball narrowly cleared Nice goalkeeper Bulka’s head as he attempted to get on the scoresheet and ricocheted to Louchet on the edge of the box, who fired across goal and into the bottom corner to snatch a draw.

Bragging rights for Lyon

Alexandre Lacazette scored the only goal as Lyon won “Le Derby” 1-0 against their fierce southeastern rivals Saint-Etienne.

The Lyon captain and academy graduate kneed the ball into the goal from close range on 29 minutes after a corner had ping-ponged around the visitors’ box.

A goalkeeping error nearly allowed Lyon to make the game safe with nine minutes remaining as Gautier Larsonneur dallied on the ball and Georges Mikautadze closed him down before Ernest Nuamah stroked home.

However, a VAR review showed the Georgian blocked the clearance with his arm and the strike was chalked off to keep Les Verts alive.

Saint-Etienne failed to really trouble the hosts as the match crept towards its conclusion and they eventually succumbed to their seventh defeat in Ligue 1.

Saint-Etienne have struggled on their return to the top flight after winning promotion via the play-off last term and stay 16th on 10 points.

Lyon’s fifth win of the season moves them up to fifth place, one point ahead of Nice.

Elsewhere, Reims joined Nice on 17 points with a 3-0 victory at 17th-placed Le Havre.

Oumar Diakite and Keito Nakamura scored inside six first-half minutes and Junya Ito added a third in the 57th minute.

Bottom-of-the-table Montpellier got a much-needed 3-1 win at home to Brest, who have struggled to recreate their excellent Champions League form domestically.

Toulouse moved up to 10th with a 2-0 win at Rennes who said they were close to appointing Jorge Sampaoli as coach, with the former Argentina and Chile boss watching from the stands.

“Discussions with Sampaoli are well advanced… We think that we’ll be able to have some news on this subject very quickly,” sporting director Frederic Massara told DAZN.

Marseille passed up the chance to go level on points with leaders Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday after losing at Strasbourg, while Lyon snatched a 2-1 victory at Toulouse thanks to a 95th-minute winner. Under new Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi, Marseille had looked resurgent this season but Diego Moreira’s strike for Strasbourg just before the break condemned the visitors to a first defeat of the season. Strasbourg’s first win in 17 outings against Marseille stopped their opponents from joining pacesetters PSG and Monaco on 16 points atop Ligue 1.

“I have complete confidence in my players,” said De Zerbi.

“One of the club’s former coaches, Marcelo Bielsa, used to say: ‘You learn from defeat’, and I think we’re going to learn a lot tonight, it’s going to be a decisive day for our progress.”

In the 40th minute, Moreira surged onto a through ball on the left and slotted a calm finish past Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli to score the first goal of his senior professional career.

Marseille had chances to equalise but Djordje Petrovic in the Strasbourg goal was equal to Mason Greenwood as the home side saw out their second win of the campaign.

Earlier, Lyon also got their second win of the season courtesy of a Rasmus Nicolaisen own goal and Malick Fofana’s stoppage-time winner, after Yann Gboho had sent Toulouse into an early lead.

The hosts went in front on 14 minutes when Gboho fired into the top corner after Lyon gave the ball away in their own half.

But Pierre Sage’s side were back level two minutes before the half hour when Nicolaisen turned into his own net.

The points seemed set to be shared until the ball broke to Fofana in the box and his flashed effort beat the goalkeeper and just crossed the line before defender Gabriel Suazo could block.

Reims beat Angers 3-1 on the road to move up to fourth, two points behind resurgent Marseille in third.

Goals by Keito Nakamura and Junya Ito inside 25 minutes gave Reims the ideal start and Marshall Munetsi then netted in the 79th minute to seal the three points.

Zinedine Ferhat scored a consolation for the hosts with six minutes remaining, but Angers remain rooted to bottom spot. They are the only team yet to win a match in the league this season.

A second-half brace from Ibrahim Sissoko earned a valuable away point for promoted Saint-Etienne against Nantes.

Johann Lepenant sent the home team in front on 10 minutes and Sorba Thomas doubled their lead four minutes after the break.

Sissoko halved the deficit in the 57th minute and then converted a penalty 10 minutes later to level.

Marseille came from behind to beat Lyon 3-2 away from home after being reduced to 10 men early in the match on Sunday courtesy of a 95th-minute winner by Jonathan Rowe. The result sent Roberto De Zerbi’s resurgent side second in Ligue 1, level on 13 points with Paris Saint-Germain but with an inferior goal difference. Ex-Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car opened the scoring for Lyon in a chaotic ‘Olympico’ derby, marked by late goals and an early red card. Pol Lirola levelled for Marseille, before Ulisses Garcia sent them ahead with under 10 minutes remaining.

Rayan Cherki looked to have claimed a point for Lyon in the third minute of added time only for Rowe to piledrive a winner for Marseille from the edge of the box two minutes later.

The match lived up to its feisty billing as one of France’s most intense rivalries with Marseille’s Leonardo Balerdi picking up a yellow card inside 30 seconds for a heavy challenge on Corentin Tolisso.

The Marseille captain then got his marching orders inside five minutes for a second bookable offence when he hauled down Alexandre Lacazette.

“He made a mistake and he knows it,” said De Zerbi. “But we dedicate this victory to him and he remains our captain.

“In this squad, when someone is in difficulty, we don’t abandon him.”

A man to the good, Lyon dominated but failed to translate this onto the scoresheet.

First-half controversy then continued when deep in added time, Lyon were awarded a penalty for handball after a lengthy VAR review.

Lacazette’s effort from 12 yards was repelled by Geronimo Rulli and the Lyon captain, under intense pressure from the following-in defence, could only blaze the rebound well over the crossbar.

Caleta-Car powered in a 53-minute header following excellent work by Clinton Mata to win the ball and put in a pinpoint cross on the right flank.

But Marseille, despite having subbed off attackers Amine Harit and Elye Wahi, hit back through substitute defender Lirola in the 69th minute when he calmly lifted a one-on-one finish over Lucas Perri.

The shock turnaround continued in the 82nd minute when another replacement defender in Garcia strode onto Lirola’s cross and bounced a first-time finish over the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

The drama was not finished, however, as Cherki bundled in a cross at the near post to seemingly ensure Pierre Sage’s side would share the spoils.

Rowe then stole the show for Marseille as he drove forward from the left wing, beat two defenders and thrashed the ball across Perri and inside the far post.

Monaco keep pace

Monaco saw off a battling Le Havre 3-1 to preserve their unbeaten record.

The Principality side backed up their impressive midweek victory in the Champions League against Barcelona by winning their fourth game in five league outings this term.

Strikes in quick succession midway through the second half by Eliesse Ben Seghir and Folarin Balogun ensured Monaco claimed all three points, after Le Havre’s Daler Kuzyaev had cancelled out Jordan Teze’s early opener.

“I’m very pleased with the win, even if it wasn’t the best game of the season,” said Monaco coach Adi Huetter.

Dutch right-back Teze gave the home side the lead inside 10 minutes, before Kuzyaev got the equaliser with an outside-of-the-foot finish that crept into the far corner.

Rested after his exploits midweek, rising star Ben Seghir restored Monaco’s lead with a moment of individual inspiration in the 66th minute.

Receiving the ball 25 yards from goal, he advanced on the packed defence and shaped the ball beyond the goalkeeper with his right foot from 25 yards.

Balogun wrapped up the points four minutes later when he swept home from George Ilenikhena’s pass.

Team PSG and Lyon in action© AFP