Paris Saint-Germain maintained their impressive recent momentum with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Sochaux on Saturday, their fifth consecutive victory in all competitions propelling them to second place in Ligue 1.
Kevin Gameiro marked his first start of the campaign with a first-half brace at Parc des Princes to leave Sochaux two points above the relegation zone in 15th place.
PSG are now three points behind leaders Marseille, who they meet next weekend at Stade Velodrome, but OM can re-establish a six-point advantage over their arch rivals if they win at mid-table Valenciennes on Sunday.
PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti made six changes to the team that won 4-0 at Bastia last weekend, with Gameiro partnering Zlatan Ibrahimovic in attack and Mohamed Sissoko handed his first start of the season in midfield.
Ibrahimovic's arrival has seen Gameiro fall out of favour but the former Lorient striker found the target after only 11 minutes against Sochaux, running onto Javier Pastore's lofted pass and slipping the ball past goalkeeper Simon Pouplin.
Sochaux saw Thierry Doubai head wide from a right-wing free-kick before Gameiro doubled the hosts' advantage in the 33rd minute, sliding in to convert a delightful low cross from Maxwell after Ibrahimovic freed the Brazilian on the left.
Gregory van der Wiel made his home debut as a second-half substitute for Sissoko and the Dutch international right-back almost combined with Ibrahimovic to craft a third goal for Gameiro, only for the France striker to miscue his overhead kick.
Fourth-place Lorient can draw level on points with PSG if they win at Evian later on Saturday, while defending champions Montpellier will go in search of their second win of the season at second-bottom Nancy.
Lille's woes continued on Friday night as the 2011 champions went down 2-0 at Rennes.
Rudi Garcia's side, who visit Valencia in the Champions League on Tuesday, have now gone five games without a win in all competitions and are already 11 points off the pace in Ligue 1.
Source: AFP
