Paris: Paris Saint-Germain needed a scrappy 1-0 win over Brest to keep a three-point lead over Montpellier at the top of the French league on Saturday.
PSG defender Milan Bisevac flicked home a corner from Christophe Jallet in the sixth minute.
“It’s good to have won here because no one did it before us this season,” PSG midfielder Nene said. “The team worked very hard tonight. We had some hard times in that match but we won and extended our good run of form.”
Brest lost its first home match this season while PSG has won all four games under coach Carlo Ancelotti, who replaced Antoine Kombouare last month.
Also, it was: Nice 0, Montpellier 1; Lille 3, Saint-Etienne 0; Lyon 3, Dijon 1; Toulouse 1, Caen 0; Lorient 1, Sochaux 1; and Auxerre 1, Nancy 3.
Nice goalkeeper David Ospina saved a penalty from Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud after Kevin Anin fouled Geoffrey Dernis in the 29th.
But Giroud made amends by netting the winning goal in the last minute with a drive into the top corner. The France international notched his 15th goal this season to consolidate his spot as the top scorer in the league.
“We dominated the match but missed a penalty,” Montpellier coach Rene Girard said. “At one point, I thought we wouldn’t score because their goalkeeper was hot. But the players kept believing and managed to grind out this victory.”
In Lille, Eden Hazard sent goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier the wrong way to convert a penalty in the 50th after Sylvain Marchal had fouled the Belgium midfielder.
Lille signed Nolan Roux from Brest last week and the striker justified his new club’s investment by scoring the last two goals.
Roux followed up to score in the 86th after Ruffier denied Dimitri Payet.
Hazard then fed Roux who slipped the ball past Ruffier in the 87th.
Defending champion Lille remained in third place, one point clear of Lyon.
In Lyon, Jimmy Briand put the hosts ahead by heading in a cross from Brazilian winger Michel Bastos in the eighth.
Dijon failed to convert a penalty two minutes later when Brice Jovial hit the post but it managed to equalize with a powerful strike from Younousse Sankhare in the 61st.
Bafetimbi Gomis gave Lyon the lead in the 82nd with a spinning shot from close range before setting up Alexandre Lacazette to seal the win in the 90th.
“The match was not easy,” Lyon makeshift center back Maxime Gonalons said. “Dijon came with some ambition. We remained focused and created very good plays tonight. It bodes well for the remainder of the season.”
In Toulouse, Emmanuel Riviere scored the winner for the hosts with a low diagonal shot in the 35th.
In Lorient, Alaixys Romao took a pass from Yann Jouffre to beat Sochaux goalkeeper Pierrick Cros in the 63rd. But forward Cedric Bakambu salvaged a draw for Sochaux with a long-range strike in the 80th.
In Auxerre, Yohan Mollo opened the scoring in the 68th for Nancy with a lob.
Nancy forward Daniel Niculae doubled the lead the following minute before capitalizing on a counterattack to make it 3-0 in the 78th.
Auxerre midfielder Edouard Cisse scored a consolation goal in the 82nd.
On Sunday, Bordeaux visits Evian, Rennes hosts Marseille and Valenciennes faces Ajaccio.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012, 09:51