PSG thrash Montpellier who have two sent off as tempers flare
LONDON: Paris St Germain demolished Montpellier 5-0 at the Parc des Princes to open a provisional 13-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 after the visitors finished with nine men as tempers flared on Saturday. Pablo Sarabia, Angel Di Maria, Kylian Mbappe, Layvin Kurzawa and a Daniel Congre own goal put the French champions on 55 points from 22 games. It was far from a perfect evening for PSG, however, as Mbappe showed his frustration as he was being replaced in the second half and Neymar had an argument with referee Jerome Brisard at the break after being fouled repeatedly. Montpellier, who had keeper Dimitri Bertaud sent off after 17 minutes with midfielder Joris Chotard also picking up a red card two minutes from time, are fifth on 33 points after being leapfrogged into fourth by Lille, 2-1 winners at RC Strasbourg. Second-placed Olympique de Marseille travel to mid-table Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday. Nine-man AS Monaco lost 3-1 at Nimes after taking the lead before Tiemoue Bakayoko and Gelson Martins were sent off in the first half, the latter for pushing referee Mikael Lesage. – Reuters