Mbappe seals PSG’s win over Lens, extend lead atop Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain kept up their pursuit of another Ligue 1 title with a victory away from home at Lens on Sunday evening.

However, their 2-0 win wasn’t without jeopardy as the hosts missed a penalty inside six minutes before being reduced to 10 players as Jonathan Gradit was sent off a bad foul.

PSG arrived into the fixture in a rich vein of form, continuing their fine performances over the winter period which have left them with something of a gap at the summit of the French top flight.

Despite making much of the early running this season, Nice and Monaco have stalled somewhat, and now sit eight and 10 points adrift of the Parisian side respectively.

Luis Enrique is comfortable in his position, despite a slow start, and his team are starting to play the kind of football he promised upon arrival, even if there continues to be uncertainty regarding Kylian Mbappe’s future.

Mbappe was instrumental in the victory over Lens

Danilo Pereira was at fault early on as PSG struggled to begin the match in a positive manner. The Portuguese midfielder brought one of Lens’ players down inside the box with a clumsy challenge, and the referee awarded a spot-kick.

Przemyslaw Frankowski stepped up to take the kick, hoping to give the hosts an early lead, however his penalty went straight down the middle of the goal and Gianluigi Donnarumma made a comfortable save.

PSG then took control of the match, dictating possession, and they were rewarded on the half-hour mark when Bradley Barcola, one of the shining lights of Luis Enrique’s stewardship, opened the scoring.

Barcola made a yard for himself inside the box and curled a fine finish into the bottom corner of the net.

Lens’ fortunes got worse just before the half-time break. The hosts were stunned to see Jonathan Gradit shown a straight red card for a poor challenge.

Initially the official deemed it only worthy of a caution, however after reviewing the footage on VAR, the card was upgraded to red.

Mbappe really started to shine in the second-half, and he completed the scoring in the 89th minute, firing a tap-in into the back of the net after some smart work on the flank by Ousmane Dembele, who claimed a welcome assist with a clever cut-back.