LIONEL MESSI scored one goal and set up another for Sergio Ramos as Paris Saint-Germain won 2-0 at Nice on Saturday to restore their six-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table and ease the pressure on coach Christophe Galtier.
Messi converted a Nuno Mendes cross in the 26th minute before Gianluigi Donnarumma produced several key saves and Dante was denied by the woodwork as PSG’s goal lived a charmed life on the Cote d’Azur.
Ramos then ended any doubt about the outcome when he headed in a Messi corner with 14 minutes remaining, as PSG bounced back from suffering consecutive home defeats.
Those losses had left the Qatar-owned club with eight defeats in 18 games in 2023 and piled the pressure on Galtier amid reports he may not even see out the season.
A win for nearest challengers Lens on Friday had cut PSG’s lead at the top of the table to just three points before this game, and before the top two meet in Paris next weekend.
“It was a difficult match. We knew we had a lot of pressure on our shoulders both because of our poor performances and because of Lens winning, and especially because Nice are a really good team who have been on a great run,” Galtier told broadcaster Canal Plus.
“It was definitely not our best performance of the season but the players fought for each other and it is obviously three important points.”
He added: “It is better to have a six-point lead than be chasing after a six-point deficit but we know we have a very important match next weekend.”
It was a first defeat in 15 matches in all competitions for Nice since former PSG midfielder Didier Digard replaced Lucien Favre as coach in January. They remain eighth in the table.
Galtier was booed by sections of the home support in Nice, the club he left last year to join PSG, but he saw Messi silence the crowd with the opening goal.
The Argentinian’s 14th Ligue 1 goal of the campaign came at the end of a week in which it emerged he was likely to leave Paris when his contract expires in the summer.
Before that, Danilo Pereira had already hit the woodwork for the visitors, who also saw injury-prone midfielder Renato Sanches come off hurt early on.
Donnarumma saved well from Nicolas Pepe and Terem Moffi before half-time, and Dante then sent an effort off the underside of the bar six minutes into the second half, with the ball bouncing down onto the line and then hitting the post.
It was an incredible let-off for the league leaders, who were grateful to Donnarumma again as he made further stops from Pepe and Youssouf Ndayishimiye.
Ramos made it 2-0 but there was still time for Danilo to head against his own crossbar late on.
Marseille can rejoin Lens and close back to within six points of PSG with a win at Lorient on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a superb second-half strike from Matthijs de Ligt gave Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory at Freiburg, keeping them two points clear atop the table as title rivals Borussia Dortmund also won.
Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win over third-placed Union Berlin maintains the pressure on the perennial German champions’ bid for an 11th straight Bundesliga title.
Bayern, who were eliminated by Freiburg 2-1 in the German Cup on Tuesday, had a chance for revenge but lacked fluency despite new coach Thomas Tuchel naming an attack-heavy line-up.
Sadio Mane, starting for the first time under Tuchel, had Bayern’s best chance of the first half, beating goalkeeper Mark Flekken but chipping inches wide.
Freiburg had a chance of their own just before half-time, Ritsu Doan’s shot rebounding off the underside of the bar.
Bayern broke the deadlock early in the second half, De Ligt’s long-range shot taking a slight deflection and flying past a helpless Flekken.
Freiburg nearly equalised late but Bayern ‘keeper Yann Sommer got his foot to a Roland Sallai strike to preserve the visitors’ advantage.
“We had many chances and we should have used them better, but thankfully we did not concede a goal,” said De Ligt.
Bayern now have two wins and a loss under Tuchel, ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Manchester City in the Champions League.
A late goal from substitute Youssoufa Moukoko took Dortmund to a nervy victory over Union.
Dortmund took the lead midway through the first half, Malen poking in a Raphael Guerreiro cross from close range, his third goal in as many matches.
Union fought back in typical fashion, Kevin Behrens levelling the scores with the away side’s first shot on target.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic brought on captain Marco Reus and teenage striker Moukoko with 15 minutes remaining and the two combined for a crucial goal in Dortmund’s bid to unseat Bayern as league champions.
Moukoko revealed Terzic said “when you come in, decide the game”.
“I could smell it – it was striker’s instinct,” he added.
- Leipzig go fourth -
RB Leipzig won 1-0 at Hertha Berlin to leapfrog Freiburg into fourth.
With the first half winding down, Leipzig’s French defender Mohamed Simakan rose high to meet a corner, with his scuffed shot falling at the feet of midfielder Amadou Haidara, who tapped home.
Leipzig wasted several chances to put an end to the match but held on despite a late charge from Hertha.
Hertha are now winless in five and could be in last place with seven matches in the season remaining depending on other results on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen won 3-1 at home against Eintracht Frankfurt to leapfrog their opponents into sixth, thanks to goals from Amine Adli, Moussa Diaby and Sardar Azmoun.
Frankfurt’s Djibril Sow pulled a goal back with 15 minutes remaining, but Leverkusen held on for their fifth straight league victory.
The win keeps Leverkusen on track for the Champions League places in a remarkable resurgence under coach Xabi Alonso, who took over with the side in second-last place in October.
Elsewhere, goals from Ellyes Skhiri, Eric Martel and Linton Maina secured Cologne a 3-1 win at Augsburg, their first victory since February.
Mainz’s late-season run towards a Europa League place took a hit after a 2-2 home draw against Werder Bremen, with each side scoring twice in the final five minutes.
