PSG Extend Lead with 3-1 Win over Lyon in Match Marred by Offensive Chants

 Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Olympique Lyonnais - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 15, 2024 Paris St Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring their third goal. (Reuters)
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Olympique Lyonnais - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 15, 2024 Paris St Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring their third goal. (Reuters)
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PSG Extend Lead with 3-1 Win over Lyon in Match Marred by Offensive Chants

 Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Olympique Lyonnais - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 15, 2024 Paris St Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring their third goal. (Reuters)
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Olympique Lyonnais - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 15, 2024 Paris St Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring their third goal. (Reuters)

Runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain claimed a 3-1 home win over Olympique Lyonnais with early goals from Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha plus a late strike from Goncalo Ramos on Sunday in a match that was temporarily suspended due to offensive chanting by fans.

PSG have 37 points after 15 matches, seven ahead of Olympique de Marseille in second. Lyon are fifth with 25 points.

The capital club opened the scoring after eight minutes when Desire Doue made a brilliant run and cut the ball back to Dembele, who slotted home with a composed finish.

The hosts doubled the lead after 14 minutes when Corentin Tolisso fouled Doue and Vitinha converted the penalty.

However, Lyon's Georges Mikautadze pulled one back five minutes before the break, latching onto a brilliant pass and calmly chipping into the net from inside the box.

Doue thought he had scored in the 52nd minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

Moments later, the referee temporarily suspended play due to offensive chanting by PSG supporters in the stands, which led to a warning being displayed on the stadium's screen.

"The match could be stopped or even lost for the club," the message stated.

PSG captain Achraf Hakimi and Vitinha approached the fans to urge them to stop, prompting loud booing before play eventually resumed after some minutes.

Ramos put the finishing touch to PSG´s victory with their third two minutes from time soon after being brought on as a substitute.



Manchester United Defenders Yoro, Maguire Fit to Return

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo
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Manchester United Defenders Yoro, Maguire Fit to Return

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo

Manchester United defenders Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro will be back in the squad when the club's Premier League campaign resumes at high-flying Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

England's Maguire missed United's last two league matches with a calf problem ahead of the international break and French teenager Yoro had a foot injury.

"Maguire is ready to go to the game and Yoro," manager Ruben Amorim told reporters on Monday.

The Portuguese also delivered good news on defender Ayden Heaven, who joined United from Arsenal in January but was carried off during his first start two weeks ago, according to Reuters.

"It is not so serious. (Heaven) is recovering. He is not yet ready to play but he will return this season, for sure," Amorim said.

Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo have returned to training but are not fit enough to play.

"(Shaw is) starting to do some drills with the team but we are building Luke," the coach said. "Kobbie is almost ready, Jonny (Evans) is recovering."

STIFF TEST

United, 13th in the table, are unbeaten in their last four league games, but face a stiff test against third-placed Forest who are within sight of a Champions League spot with a return to Europe's top club competition for the first time in 45 years.

Forest played 120 minutes in an FA Cup quarter-final win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday while United are coming off a 15-day break.

"Of course, Nuno (Espirito Santo, Forest's manager) will say that it was better to have more time to prepare the game, and I can say that that's a long, long time in the good moment without games," Amorim said.

"But they played that cup stage, they won, and that is really important to recover players. So the environment will be really nice, they are doing amazing."

Amorim had little to say about Marcus Rashford's performance since joining Aston Villa on loan from United, and scoring his first two goals for his new team in a 3-0 win over second-tier Preston North End to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

"We have a lot of games to play and I am focused on my team and my players and Rashford is not my player at the moment," Amorim said.

"But every player that performs well on loan is good news for my club so we are happy with that."

FERNANDES STAYING

The Portuguese coach also United captain Bruno Fernandes will not be allowed to leave the club at the end of the season.

The 30-year-old Fernandes, who last year signed a contract extension until 2027, has recently been linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

"No, it's not going to happen. He's not going anywhere because I've already told him," Amorim said of the midfielder.

"We want the best players to continue with us. He's (30) ... but he's still so young because he plays 50, 55 games every season.

"Between assists and goals, he's there for 30 (of them), at least. So he's the type of player that we want here, he's not going anywhere."

Fernandes has scored 16 goals and registered 15 assists in 44 appearances across all competitions for United this season.