In a rescheduled Ligue 1 fixture held at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain bounced back emphatically from a recent upset defeat to Olympique Lyonnais, securing a dominant 3-0 victory against a Nantes side fighting to avoid relegation this season. The match was originally scheduled for mid-March but pushed back to give PSG extra preparation time for their Champions League round of 16 tie against Chelsea, and the three points from this win have preserved the French champions’ comfortable lead at the top of the table. With just four matchdays left in the domestic campaign, PSG now sits four points clear of second-placed Lens, putting them in a strong position to retain their league crown.
Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was the star of the night, notching a brace to lead PSG’s charge. He opened the scoring in the 13th minute from the penalty spot, after a VAR review judged Nantes defender Frédéric Guilbert to have handled Marquinhos’ looping header inside the box. The visitors thought they had leveled the score shortly after when Louis Leroux slotted home a loose ball following a poorly cleared PSG free kick, but another VAR intervention ruled the effort out for an offside infringement after a lengthy review.
PSG doubled their advantage in the 37th minute through a stunning individual finish from young attacker Desiré Doué. Full-back Achraf Hakimi played a perfectly weighted through ball to release Doué into the area, and the winger struck a blistering effort into the far top corner from a tight angle, a finish that left Nantes goalkeeper Anthony Lopes with no chance. Kvaratskhelia put the result beyond all doubt after halftime, dancing past two Nantes defenders before poking a low finish past Lopes to grab his second of the game. Late in the match, Guilbert caught Doué with a heavy tackle, but the young PSG winger was able to stay on the pitch without needing substitution.
Off the pitch, the match was marred by unrest between traveling Nantes supporters and match stewards. Stewards moved in to remove large protest banners unfurled by the fans that targeted Qatari ownership of PSG and criticized the French Football League (LFP). The banners, printed in large yellow capital letters, read: “Qatar demands, the LFP obeys, French football suffers, we’re sick of you.” After the banners were removed, clashes broke out between fans and stewards, and some supporters lit flares in the stands.
The result sets PSG up perfectly for their upcoming high-stakes European fixture: the club will face Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals at home in Paris next Tuesday. In other French soccer news from midweek, the final spot in this season’s French Cup final was claimed by Strasbourg, who defeated Nice 2-0 at home courtesy of a brace from striker Elye Wahi, including a late penalty. Strasbourg will face Lens in the May 22 title decider at the Stade de France, after Lens booked their place in the final with a 4-1 victory over Toulouse in the first semi-final held on Tuesday.