European roundup: PSG’s slump continues with defeat at Monaco
Paris Saint-Germain produced a woeful performance as they lost 3-0 at Monaco in Ligue 1, a result that will put coach Mauricio Pochettino under more pressure less than two weeks after their Champions League exit.
PSG, on 65 points from 29 games, saw their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table cut to 12 points after Marseille beat Nice 2-1.
With Lionel Messi ruled out by a bout of flu, the capital side showed close to nothing at the Louis II Stadium 11 days after being knocked out of the Champions League last 16 by Real Madrid.
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“The way we lost is not acceptable at this level of competition. We can’t start a game the way we started this one,” said Pochettino. “We need to get over the Champions league exit, hopefully the international break will help put it behind us.”
Wissam Ben Yedder put the hosts ahead on 25 minutes after beating Presnel Kimpembe at the near post to deflect Youssouf Fofana’s cross into the top corner. PSG were not much better after the break, although Mbappé wasted a couple of good opportunities before Monaco doubled their advantage in the 68th minute.
An unchallenged Fofana found Ben Yedder on the right and the France striker’s pass reached Ruben Aguilar who deflected the ball for Kevin Volland to score from close range.
PSG conceded another goal six minutes from time. Volland was tripped in the box by Kimpembe and Ben Yedder converted the resulting penalty to confirm PSG’s fourth consecutive away defeat in all competitions.
In Serie A, first-half goals from Paulo Dybala and Dusan Vlahovic earned Juventus a comfortable 2-0 win over the bottom side, Salernitana, as Massimiliano Allegri’s side kept in touch with the leaders, Milan.
Starting his first game in more than a month after an injury layoff, Dybala wasted no time in getting back among the goals, sweeping his side in front inside five minutes.
Juventus’s Paulo Dybala puts his side ahead against Salernitana. Photograph: Marco Alpozzi/AP
The Serbia striker Vlahovic then missed a glorious chance to make it 2-0, before making one count, rising highest to head home and effectively put the game to bed in the 29th minute.
In the second half the visitors rallied and created some openings of their own, with Federico Bonazzoli’s volley brilliantly kept out by Wojciech Szczesny, but they could not force their way back into the contest.
The hosts held on to stretch their unbeaten league run to 16 matches, closing the gap to leaders Milan to seven points, while also now sitting one point behind champions Internazionale in third.
Tammy Abraham scored two goals as Roma swept aside Lazio 3-0 in the capital derby.
Roma scored their first goal with less than a minute on the clock and were 3-0 up at half-time in a dominant performance from José Mourinho’s side. Roma leapfrogged Lazio into sixth, level on points with fifth-place Atalanta, who won 1-0 at Bologna, but eight points below the top four.
Roma got off to the perfect start when, after just 56 seconds, Lorenzo Pellegrini’s inswinging corner hit the crossbar and rebounded in off Abraham’s thigh.
Abraham doubled his tally in the 22nd minute when he acrobatically turned in Rick Karsdorp’s cross into an empty net with Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha stranded at his left post.
Roma’s third goal was a stunner as Pellegrini curled a free-kick into the top right corner from nearly 30 yards out to all but wrap up the points with five minutes remaining until the break.
In La Liga, Real Madrid were stunned 4-0 at the Bernabéu by Barcelona while fifth-placed Real Betis missed a chance to gain some ground after being held to a 0-0 draw at Celta Vigo.
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Manual Pellegrini’s team are four points behind Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, and two points ahead of Real Sociedad, who picked up a point with a 0-0 draw at second-placed Sevilla, in a tight fight for the Champions League places.
Villarreal stayed three points behind Betis after a 1-0 loss at Cádiz, who are a point ahead of 18th-placed Mallorca after they lost 1-0 at Espanyol for a sixth consecutive defeat.
The second-placed side in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund, had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Cologne after taking the lead as they lost ground in the title race, dropping six points behind leaders Bayern Munich with seven games remaining.
Marius Wolf put the visitors in front after eight minutes but, apart from an Erling Haaland shot that sailed narrowly wide, Dortmund showed little else in the first half.
Cologne were not rattled by Dortmund taking the lead and got a deserved equaliser through Sebastian Andersson in the 36th minute after Jannes Horn’s free-kick was headed towards goal by Anthony Modeste.
Cologne’s Sebastian Andersson (right) scores his side’s equaliser during their 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP
“They pushed us back. We had too little pressure on the ball and then they sent in one cross after the other and scored,” the Dortmund manager, Marco Rose, said. “We improved after the break and had our chances to win. We are disappointed.”
Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen moved up to 48 point after their 2-0 win at Wolfsburg earlier while RB Leipzig are in fourth place, three points behind, following a goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.