PARIS: Star forwards Neymarand Edinson Cavani argued over who should take a penalty kick as Paris Saint-Germainextended their perfect record in the French league to six matches with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Lyon on Sunday.
Facing their stiffest challenge this season against the seven-time champions, PSG needed two own-goals from Lyon defenders Marcelo and Jeremy Morel.
PSG now lead defending champion Monaco by three points.
PSG enjoyed most of the possession but their attacking “MCN” trident of Kylian Mbappe, Cavani and Neymar was not as flamboyant as in previous matches. Lyon defended well and prevented Neymar from making his mark while Cavani had only a few touches.
Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes made several decisive saves and sent a penalty kick from Cavani onto the bar in the 79th minute. Moments before, Cavani and Neymar had been seen arguing about who should take the penalty.
A few minutes before that, Cavani had tried to take a free kick but Neymar’s good friend and fellow Brazilian Dani Alves took the ball and gave it to the former Barcelona star.
Cavani thrived last season as PSG’s main striker, finishing as the French league’s top scorer and bagging a remarkable 49 goals in 50 games across all competitions. Neymar’s arrival from Barcelona for a world record 222 million euros ($262 million) has taken the spotlight away from him.
Cavani went back to the dressing room straight after the final whistle while his teammates celebrated on the pitch.
PSG were fortunate to open the scoring 15 minutes from time when Marcelo deflected a flick from Cavani into his own net. The hosts doubled their lead nine minutes later when Mbappe was set up by Neymar and forced Lopes into another good save, with the ball bouncing back onto Morel and into the net.
Lyon suffered toward the end but created several chances on the break as Nabil Fekir used his speed and fast dribbles to unsettle PSG’s back four. The visitors’ best chance came with 22 minutes left when newly hired Tanguy Ndombele fired a shot that crashed onto the bar.
