Unimpressive Paris Saint-Germain seal home win, Monaco stunned by Rennes

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty helped PSG defeat OGC Nice 1-0

Paris, Nov 30 (IANS) Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) took a 1-0 victory over OGC Nice through Zlatan Ibrahimovic's penalty at the Parc des Princes here.

Just 15 minutes into the game Saturday, Lucas Moura was tangled in the box by two Nice defenders, Jordan Amavi and Romain Gevevois, and the Swede Ibrahimovic stepped up to the spot and converted it despite goalkeeper Mouez Hassen diving the right way, reports Xinhua.

Then Laurent Blanc's side failed to add to their lead during a dominant first half and struggled after the break to play with any kind of fluency. Blanc was just relieved with the three important points which allow them to keep the pressure on leaders Marseille at the top of Ligue 1.

"The first half was good. The only regret was not managing to score a second goal, which would have allowed us to relax in the second half," said the boss of Les Parisiens.

"Nice grew in confidence and realised that they would have some chances to equalise, while from our point of view, we were very wasteful," added Blanc, whose next league match is just in four days, away to Lille.

Monaco, however, were not so lucky like PSG, as the runners-up of last season were beaten 0-2 at Stade Rennes FC. A 10th-minute own goal from Aymen Abdennour put the hosts in front and Ola Toivonen volleyed a second eight minutes later as they made it three wins in a row.

With the home win, Rennes went to the fourth on table while Monaco dropped to the 10th before another three fixtures of the 15th round kick off Sunday.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Lens ended a run of three successive Ligue 1 defeats with a 2-0 victory over FC Metz which lifted them off the foot of the table, while Stade Malherbe Caen were held 1-1 at home by Montpellier HSC.

Stade de Reims rallied past SC Bastia 2-1 and Toulouse FC gave up a home advantage to lose to FC Lorient 2-3.