Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 Lyon: Goncalo Ramos strikes fine double as PSG take step closer to Ligue 1 title

A rampant Paris Saint-Germain surged to a barnstomring 4-1 victory over Lyon despite missing UEFA Champions League heroes Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, with all five goals coming in the first half.

The league leaders were 2-0 up within six minutes as a blockbuster first half produced 20 attempts on goal, with Pierre Sage clearly determined to take the game to the league leaders.

The problem with that approach was they gave the game to PSG, with the visitors going close on several occasions and even scoring through Ernest Nuamah’s effort from outside the box but leaving themselves hideously exposed at the back.

Bradley Barcola starred but failed to get on the scoresheet as Gonaclo Ramos hit a brace, Lucas Beraldo nabbed his first of the season and a Nemanja Matic own-goal opened the scoring before PSG comfortably saw out an uneventful second half.

Monaco’s 2-0 defeat of Brest earlier means that PSG will have to wait at least one more week to clinch the Ligue 1 title but they remain on track to secure it at the Parc des Princes next week against Le Havre regardless of what Les Monegasques can do.

PSG were much too strong for a Lyon side chasing European football after a catastrophic start to the season, who at least came to try and win at the in Paris.

They did create chances too, only the post denied Nuamah scoring two goals in the space of a few minutes which would’ve made the score 3-2 heading into the final moments of the first half while Alexandre Caqueret and Gift Orban also had late chances to make the end of the game more of a contest.

But PSG were completely ruthless by contrast. All four of their goals gave Anthony Lopes no chance to react, such was the perfection of their build-up play.

The only concern was Gianluigi Donnarumma between their own posts as the Italian reacted too slowly to stop Nuamah’s somewhat pedestrian shot and continued to look slightly off the pace after also struggling at home against Barcelona.

One week, two 4-1 victories isn’t bad going for anyone, and Lyon’s mid-table belied a team in red-hot form that had only lost three times since early December and are gearing up for a domestic final.

But this time the brace came from Ramos, as Mbappe was rested and didn’t take to the pitch on a chilly night in Paris.

With the superstar widely expected to leave at the end of the season, it means he’ll have just three more opportunities to grace the Parc des Princes for PSG but this performance indicated that Les Parisiens may just be able to mitigate the loss of the most sought-after player on the planet.

As PSG continue to move away from their galaticos era, the link-up play between Barcola, Vitinha, Warren Zaire-Emery, Marco Asensio and Achraf Hakimi in particular was a blur at times - with the first three players an average 21 years of age.

While Lyon aren’t Barcelona, this was an entirely different and more assured performance from PSG than on Tuesday, rather than a cagey first-half followed by some late icing on the cake against 10 men they seemingly could’ve added another four after the half-time break if they’d elected to, such was the ease with which they cut their visitors open.

A goal was about the only thing missing from Barcola’s game, as the only survivor of the front-three that tormented Barcelona on Tuesday.

But he was involved in the build-up play for the first three and looked dangerous every single time he got on the ball at the Parc des Princes.

His ability to go from stationary to top speed in the blink of an eye clearly terrifies defenders and the 21-year-old looked like creating a goal every single time he got on the ball - so watch out Borussia Dortmund.

PSG: Donnarumma 5, Hakimi 8, Marquinhos 6, Pererira 5, Beraldo 6, Asensio 8, Zaire-Emery 7, Vitinha 7, Barcola 8, Kolo Muani 6, Ramos 8. Subs: Mayulu 7, Skriniar 6 Mukiele 6, Soler 5, Lee 6.

LYON: Lopes 5, Maitland-Niles5, Caleta-Car 5, O'Brien 6, Henrique 5, Carqueret 5, Matic 6, Nuamah 8, Cherki 7, Benrahma 7, Lacazette 7. Subs: Mata 6, Orban 7, Tolisso 6, Balde 6, Fofana 6.

3’ - GOAL! PSG 1-0 LYON (MATIC OG): Wow what a start! Bradley Barcola - arguably the most dangerous of PSG's star-studded front three in Barcelona - caused Lyon problems on his side's first attack of the game and slipped the ball forward for Marco Asensio, who played a cross across the box and Nemanja Matic inadvertently turned past Lopes at the near post!

5’ - VERY NEARLY 2-0! Lopes signals to his teammates to keep their heads after this latest attack, Kolo Muani jinked into the box and found space to open a shot but Jake O'Brien got enough on it to send it past the post.

6’ - GOAL! PSG 2-0 LYON (BERALDO): Wow what an even better start! Lyon are in shambles as Lucas Beraldo wheels away to celebrate his first Ligue 1 goal of the season, again it was all too easy for PSG. The cross fizzed in from the corner and Barcola (him again) got glancing contact with his head to it and Beraldo ghosted away from his marker Alexandre Lacazette and fired home from point-blank range!

24’ - WHAT. A.TACKLE. Lyon's defending has been extremely suspect at times tonight but that is Jake O'Brien TAKE A BOW! Superb interplay between Goncalo Ramos and Achraf Hakimi sent Kolo Muani steaming towards goal but O'Brien kept pace, then timed his tackle in the box absolutely perfectly to prevent a goal or a penalty. It's quite simply one of the tackles of the season and saved an almost certain goal there.

32’ - GOAL! PSG 3-0 LYON (RAMOS): It's three in 32 minutes!! Lyon have fired shots of their own but PSG have been ruthless in every part of the field so far tonight and Ramos rewards that with another goal - his ninth of the season thanks to a pinpoint cross from Hakimi! Barcola is once again involved, sliding the ball to Hakimi who's at full flight on the right and then boomerangs a flat cross into the box. It looks like he's played it too close to Lopes but it impossibly spins back, in front of the helpless O'Brien but straight to the onrushing Ramos whose bullet header finds the net.

37’ - GOAL! PSG 3-1 LYON (NUAMAH): This has to be in contention for the game of the season surely!! After all of Lyon's chances, it's a more innocous effort that sneaks in, Nuamah drifted across the top of the penalty area from the right flank before turning and fizzing a snapshot back to his right and Donnarumma is too slow to react!

42’ - GOAL! PSG 4-1 LYON (RAMOS): And just like that, it's four!!!! It's been a completely bonkers first half, but Lyon have been more open than a convertible sports car and have once again paid the price. Vitinha showed wonderful feet to get escape from a trap of three Lyon defenders and play in Warren Zaire-Emery. From there PSG are once again just too clinical, the Asensio keeps the attack going then slides a ball across for Ramos to turn into an open net and hit double-figures for the campaign.

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