Moise Kean and Kylian Mbappe both scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Dijon 4-0 on Saturday to take the lead in Ligue 1, as the match between Lens and Nantes was postponed after 11 local team members tested positive for coronavirus
Kean started at Parc des Princes and scored a brace in the first half, his first goals since moving to PSG on loan from Everton
Mbappe then replaced the Italy international in the later stages and added a late brace as Thomas Tuchel’s side – for whom Neymar was exceptional – rebounded from their midweek Champions League loss to Manchester United and made it six in a row wins in Ligue 1
The result allowed PSG to take the lead in the standings, one point ahead of Lille, even if the northerners can regain first place by beating Nice on Sunday
The reigning champions were nine players missing due to injury or suspension, including Angel di Maria and Marco Verratti, while Mbappe was rested at kick-off ahead of a trip to Turkey to face Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday
In a game played behind closed doors in the French capital due to the health crisis, Kean came in and converted a Mitchel Bakker cross to open the scoring in the third minute
Neymar then headed against the post before scoring Kean’s second goal midway through the first half
Freed on Julian Draxler’s counterattack, Neymar ran halfway with the ball before leaving Kean with an easy finish
PSG lost Draxler to injury in the second half before Mbappe replaced Kean and came up against a pass from Neymar to take the score to 3-0 eight minutes from time
In the 88th minute, Neymar produced a nice pass to spot Pablo Sarabia, who caught Mbappe to seal the victory
Marseille won 1-0 at Lorient earlier with a second-half goal from Argentina defender Leonardo Balerdi which took them to fourth place just behind Rennes, who lost 2-1 at home to Angers on Friday
The home clash between Lens and Nantes scheduled for Sunday was called off after losing the equivalent of an entire team to positive coronavirus tests
In a statement, the French League (LFP) said that « noting the certain absence of 11 players from Lens on a list of 30 due to positive RT-PCR tests, he decided to postpone the match between Lens and Nantes scheduled for Sunday at a later date «
Lens has not confirmed the identity of the players concerned, but local newspaper La Voix du Nord reported that two staff members, including coach Franck Haise, were also positive
« The health situation is a priority but it changes a lot of things for the championship itself, » said Nantes coach Christian Gourcuff, whose team had already been to Lens
This is not the first time this season that a Ligue 1 match has been postponed because of Covid-19 Marseille’s meeting with Bordeaux on the campaign’s opening night in August has been postponed for the same reason
After that, and fearing an avalanche of postponements, the LFP relaxed its health protocol to ensure matches could continue as long as at least 20 players on a roster of 30 from each team tested negative.
The Ligue 2 match between Grenoble and Nancy scheduled for Saturday was also postponed after 13 Grenoble players tested positive alongside five staff members
Lens and its surrounding region in the far north of France are currently under a nighttime curfew along with much of the country as part of efforts to reduce the spread of the virus
Paris Saint-Germain FC, France Ligue 1, Dijon FCO, Kylian Mbappé, UEFA Champions League, Thomas Tuchel, Moise Kean
World news – GB – Kean and Mbappe send the PSG in the lead after the cancellation of the match in Lens due to the Covid epidemic
