Messi pulls the strings to ease pressure on coach Galtier

PARIS — Lionel Messi scored one goal and set up another for Sergio Ramos as Paris Saint-Germain won 2-0 at Nice on Saturday to restore its six-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table and ease the pressure on coach Christophe Galtier.

Messi converted a Nuno Mendes cross in the 26th minute before Gianluigi Donnarumma produced several key saves and Dante was denied by the woodwork as PSG lived a charmed life on the Cote d'Azur.

Ramos then ended any doubt about the outcome when he headed in a Messi corner with 14 minutes remaining, as PSG bounced back from suffering consecutive home defeats.

Those losses had piled the pressure on Galtier amid reports he may not even see out the season.

The result clearly meant a lot to Galtier, who was in charge at Nice last season and expressed his displeasure at a banner unfurled by the home supporters aimed at his mother.

"My mom is 83 and has just had cancer. That's all. And if these people in the stands have been watching games in Europe this season it is because of the work I did last season," said Galtier, who led Nice to fifth in his single campaign at the club.

A win for PSG's nearest challenger Lens on Friday had cut its lead at the top of the standings to just three points before this game, and before the top two sides meet in Paris this weekend.

"We knew we had a lot of pressure on our shoulders both because of our poor performances and because of Lens winning, and especially because Nice is a really good team who have been on a great run," Galtier told broadcaster Canal Plus.

"It was definitely not our best performance of the season but the players fought for each other and it is obviously three important points."

He added: "It is better to have a six-point lead than to chase after a six-point deficit but we know we have a very important match next weekend."

It was a first defeat in 15 matches in all competitions for Nice since former PSG midfielder Didier Digard replaced Lucien Favre as coach in January. The Ineos-owned club remained eighth in the table.

Donnarumma stars

Messi's 14th Ligue 1 goal of the campaign that opened the scoring came at the end of a week in which it emerged he was likely to leave Paris when his contract expires in the summer.

Before that, Danilo Pereira had already hit the woodwork for the visitor, who also saw injury-prone midfielder Renato Sanches come off hurt early on.

Donnarumma saved well from Nicolas Pepe and Terem Moffi before halftime, and Dante then sent an effort off the underside of the bar six minutes into the second half, with the ball bouncing down onto the line and then hitting the post.

It was an incredible let-off for the league leader, who was grateful to Donnarumma again as he made further stops from Pepe and Youssouf Ndayishimiye.

Ramos made it 2-0 but there was still time for Danilo to head against his own crossbar late on.

Marseille had the chance to rejoin Lens and close back to within six points of PSG when it traveled to Lorient on Sunday.

Earlier, bottom side Angers claimed its first Ligue 1 win since September as it beat Lille 1-0.

Substitute Halid Sabanovic scrambled in the only goal of the match with six minutes left as Angers ended a run of 21 matches without a win.

That means it will not match the French top-flight record for the most games without a win in a single season — that record is held by Arles-Avignon who went 23 matches without a victory in 2010-11.

It nevertheless remains seven points adrift at the bottom of the table and 12 away from safety with only eight games left.

AFP