Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Sport

PSG again made to wait to clinch title with Nantes defeat

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - April 17, 2019 Paris St Germain players look dejected after the match REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

PARIS (Reuters) - Paris St Germain missed another opportunity to seal their eighth Ligue 1 title when their much-changed side were beaten 3-2 at strugglers Nantes on Wednesday.

Victory would have put PSG out of reach at the top of the standings with six games left, but Dani Alves's opener was cancelled out by Diego Carlos before Majeed Waris and an own goal by Alves gave the Canaries all three points at La Beaujoire.

PSG's Metehan Guclu reduced the arrears a minute from fulltime in his maiden Ligue 1 appearance.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - April 17, 2019 Nantes players celebrate after the match REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

It was an embarrassing performance from runaway leaders PSG, who have 81 points from 32 games and lead second-placed Lille by 17 points.

Thomas Tuchel's side, who have now picked up only one point from their last three Ligue 1 outings, will be crowned champions on Sunday if they beat Monaco at home.

PSG were without the injured Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Thomas Meunier, a situation that led the German coach to complain about the lack of depth of his squad last weekend.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - April 17, 2019 Paris St Germain's Metehan Guclu in action REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Marco Verratti and Juan Bernat were suspended while Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria were rested ahead of Sunday's league game against Monaco and the April 27 French Cup final against Stade Rennes.

Their firepower was sorely missed as Eric Choupo-Moting barely threatened throughout, apart from when he hit the post in the second half.

Alves, however, opened the scoring after 19 minutes with a splendid long-range lob after collecting a cross from Leandro Paredes.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - April 17, 2019 Paris St Germain's Dani Alves in action with Nantes' Nicolas Pallois REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Yet Carlos headed home the equaliser four minutes later as PSG, who suffered a 5-1 humiliation at Lille last Sunday, looked shaky.

Waris put the hosts ahead a minute before the interval when he deflected a team mate's shot past Gianluigi Buffon.

Nantes doubled their advantage six minutes into the second half as Carlos's attempt form a corner deflected in off Alves.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - April 17, 2019 Paris St Germain's Dani Alves gestures during the match REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Guclu, 20, celebrated his first top flight appearance by finding the net with a fine low shot from inside the box.

The result lifted Nantes up to 14th on 37 points, 12 above the relegation zone.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - April 17, 2019 Paris St Germain's Julian Draxler is shown a yellow card by the referee REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.