Paris Saint-Germain vs Lille. French Ligue 1.
Parc des Princes.
Mauricio Pochettino's PSG suffer eighth league defeat of the season; Neymar dismissed for a second yellow after an altercation with Tiago Djalo, who was also sent off
Saturday 3 April 2021 21:46, UK
Neymar was sent off on his return from injury as PSG slipped up 1-0 at home to Lille, who surged three points clear at the top of Ligue 1.
Mauricio Pochettino's side started the afternoon level on points with their title rivals but ran into a supremely organised Lille side who took the lead on 20 minutes through Jonathan David.
Neymar was sent off when he picked up a second yellow card for shoving Tiago Djalo as the clock approached 90 minutes. Djalo was also dismissed during the incident and had to be escorted from the pitch following a foul-mouthed rant at the decision.
Pochettino, who was appointed in January, has now seen his side lose their last three games at home in Ligue 1 as both Monaco and Lille have chances of dethroning the current champions. Monaco moved up to third on 62 points - one point behind PSG - with a 4-0 thrashing of Metz.
PSG have won seven of the last eight Ligue 1 titles, only finishing second behind Monaco in 2017, so this felt like a big day for Ligue 1 with a potential exciting title race shaping up.
Lille, who were without Yusuf Yazici after the Turkey midfielder tested positive for COVID-19, defended with great organisation and were the sharper side at the Parc des Princes in the early stages.
But it was PSG that had the first major chance. Neymar, in his first Ligue 1 start in over two months, found Kylian Mbappe early on with a defence-splitting pass, only for the France striker to see his low crossed shot parried away by Mike Maignan.
However, Lille went ahead on 20 minutes on the counter as David fired under the roof of the net from Jonathan Ikone's cross after controlling the ball with a soft touch.
PSG struggled to create chances despite enjoying most of the possession and Lille threatened several times with lightning-quick counter-attacks.
Neymar forced Maignan to a good save with a powerful half volley from just outside the box on the hour and he came close again with 20 minutes with a diving header that went just wide. Lille repelled the threat of the hosts in good style and were never really put under constant pressure.
Tempers boiled over in the closing stages when Neymar's overzealous attempts to grab the ball of Djalo resulted in both picking up second yellow cards.
The Brazilian will now miss PSG's next league game against Racing Strasbourg - a game Pochettino's men cannot afford to lose.
In the meantime, PSG travel to Bayern Munich for their Champions League quarter-finals first leg on Wednesday.
