Lyon hand PSG first loss in Ligue 1

French football giants Paris Saint-Germain saw their unbeaten record of the season in Ligue 1 vanish with a 1-2 loss to Lyon in the 23rd round match.

Without their injured star Neymar, set to miss 10 weeks, PSG on Sunday opened the scoring seven minutes into the match, as an unmarked Angel Di Maria latched onto Julian Draxler's cross before firing home, reports Xinhua news agency.

PSG rested on Alphonse Areola's heroic performance to keep their advantage for the following 20-plus minutes. The goalkeeper made consecutive saves on shots from Bertrand Traore, Memphis Depay and Nabil Fekir.

However, Lyon managed to find an equaliser in the 33rd minute, when Moussa Dembele rose high to nod Leo Dubois' cross past Areola.

Dembele also played his part in Lyon's second goal. He was fouled by PSG captain Thiago Silva inside the box, and Fekir converted the resulting spot kick in the 49th minute.

Areola's Lyon counterpart Anthony Lopes shone in the second half by denying several attempts from the league's leading scorer Kylian Mbappe.

After suffering their first loss in 21 matches so far, PSG sit 10 points clear of second-placed Lille with two fewer matches played. Lyon trail Lille by three points at third.

Also on Sunday, Montpellier bagged a 1-1 draw with Nimes, seeing Andy Delort's second-half shot cancel out Nimes defender Loick Landre's header with just two minutes played.

--IANS

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