Tag: Ligue1

  • PSG extend lead in Ligue 1, beat Montpellier

    PSG extend lead in Ligue 1, beat Montpellier

    Paris Saint Germain put on a solid display on Saturday in the opening half to maintain their perfect record in Ligue 1.

    Idrissa Gana Gueye Gana’s fine goal inspired them to a 2-0 home win against Montpellier.

    Senegal midfielder Gueye fired home from just outside the box at a packed Parc des Princes and substitute Julian Draxler wrapped it up late to put the capital side on 24 points.

    PSG are now 10 points ahead of second-placed Olympique de Marseille who host RC Lens on Sunday and have two games in hand.

    Nice are third after they got back to winning ways by beating bottom side St Etienne 3-0 away three days after conceding their first defeat of the season.

    Champions Lille claimed their second consecutive win as Jonathan David’s double gave them a 2-1 victory at Racing Strasbourg.

    In the absence of Lionel Messi, who missed his second consecutive game to nurse a bruised knee, Angel Di Maria started up front for PSG, alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.

    The spark came from the midfield, with Gueye unleashing a fierce strike that went into the top corner to put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute.

    Under sustained pressure, Montpellier reacted with a fine free kick by Teji Savanier which was parried by Keylor Navas, again favoured over Gianluigi Donnarumma to start in goal.

    Neymar was lively again but was denied twice by Jonas Omlin, who could do nothing against Ander Herrera’s shot three minutes before the break but was saved by his crossbar.

    The second half was a less exciting affair with both teams struggling to find the target as Neymar continued to waste chances and Mbappe also lacked sharpness in the area.

    Di Maria was replaced with Draxler in the 88th minute and it took the German only one minute to find the back of the net after being set up by Neymar.

    PSG host Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday.

  • French Ligue1, EPL stars dominate 2019 AFCON

    The French Ligue 1 and English Premiere League (EPL) have the highest number of African stars that will feature at the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) starting in Egypt on Friday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the newly expanded 24 -team competition with 552 registered players will have 315 of them from Europe, where most African stars ply their trade.

    The French Ligue, where most francophone players ply their trade have 95 players, followed closely by the English league with 43 players.

    The Super Eagles of Nigeria have three key players in the EPL with two others in the lower division (English Championship)

    They include Wilfred Ndidi ( Leicester City), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal), Leon Balogun (Brighton and Hove Albion) While Captain Mikel Obi (Middesbrough) and Oghenekaro Etebo (Stoke) played in the Championship last season.

    Current African footballer of the year Mohammed Sallah of Egypt and Senegalese Saido Mane of Champions League winners, Liverpool are the biggest stars of the AFCON and they both play in the EPL.

    A breakdown of the 552 players registered by the 24 teams shows that 315 play in Europe with the French Ligue 1 and other lower divisions in France accounting for 95 players.

    England comes second with 45 players from the EPL, Championship and the lower leagues.

    There are 201 players from leagues in Africa while 32 are from Asia and four from North America.

    In Africa, South Africa have 45 players, Egypt 24 and Tunisia 14 players representing their countries in the 2019 AFCON.

    The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) have just one player, Super Eagles goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa who plays for Katsina United.

    The 2019 AFCON will begin of Friday in Egypt with the host taking on Zimbabwe.

    The Super Eagles will open their campaign on Saturday against debutants, Burundi.

    The competition will end on July 19 with the crowning of a new AFCON champion.