Ligue 1 matchday 8: PSG beat Lyon to go top, Rennes second, Marseille hold on against Le Havre

Paris Saint-Germain are top of Ligue 1 for the first time this season after beating Lyon, the leaders going into the round, 2–0 on Monday night with two goals from substitutes. The group of five that was level on 14 points has broken up: Rennes beat Strasbourg 3–0 and are a point behind PSG, Monaco and Lille drew 1–1 in Monaco and are two behind, and Lyon and Paris FC, who lost at Lens, stay on 14. Marseille led Le Havre 4–0 and won 4–3. Nine matches brought 22 goals: four home wins, one away win and four draws, two of them goalless.

Friday

Stade Brestois 29 1–2 Nice turned in the second half. Ludovic Ajorque put Brest ahead on 15, Elye Wahi equalised on 61 from Mohamed Amoura's pass, and Sofiane Diop, on as a substitute on 63, scored the winner on 83 from Wahi's. A VAR check confirmed a penalty for Brest in stoppage time; Kenny Lala took it on 90+10 and, Nice's match report says, Yehvann Diouf saved it. Brest had seven shots on target to Nice's two, and Diouf made six saves.

Saturday

Lens 2–1 Paris FC was Paris FC's at half-time: Luca Koleosho scored on 45+2 from Lassine Sinayoko's pass. Thorgan Hazard, on as a substitute on 61, set up Florian Thauvin's equaliser on 63, and Thauvin returned the favour for Hazard's winner on 83. A penalty for Lens on 19 and a red card for Jean-Clair Todibo on 51 were both overturned by VAR. Lens have won three in a row and are seventh; Paris FC had one shot on target.

Sunday

Monaco 1–1 Lille was played mostly in Lille's half. Ethan Mbappé scored for Lille on 24 from Soriba Diaoune's pass, and Tanguy Nianzou was sent off for serious foul play on 66. Edan Diop, on at half-time, equalised on 74 from Jordan Teze's pass. Monaco had 64 per cent of the ball and 21 shots, six on target; Lille had four shots. Ansu Fati went off after 15 minutes. Davide Ancelotti said his side cannot yet play a complete match but are "on the right path", the club reports, and Lille gave a professional debut to the Cameroonian forward Angel Yondjo-Matah as a late substitute.

Angers 0–0 Lorient produced six shots on target between them. Lorient have conceded six goals in eight matches, as few as Lille, and Angers are fourteenth.

Auxerre 1–1 Le Mans: Danny Namaso turned the ball into his own net on 48 to put Le Mans ahead, a goal VAR confirmed, and Cameron Archer equalised on 56, his fifth league goal of the season. Auxerre had 60 per cent of the ball.

Marseille 4–3 Le Havre looked settled by the 55th minute. CJ Egan-Riley scored on 5 from Emerson Palmieri's pass, Timothy Weah on 33, Igor Paixão on 50 from Amine Gouiri's, and Himad Abdelli on 55. Josh Maja, a substitute, converted a penalty on 77, Lamine N'Diaye, also on from the bench, scored on 86, and Maja made it 4–3 on 89 from Kaito Mizuta's pass. A penalty for Le Havre in stoppage time was cancelled by VAR on 90+6. Le Havre had 22 shots to Marseille's eleven and are still without a win after eight matches; Marseille have won three in a row. Le Havre's report says the four goals conceded in 55 minutes brought them back to harsh reality, and quotes Didier Digard saying that in their situation they cannot only react.

Rennes 3–0 Strasbourg was Sebastian Szymański's afternoon. Boulaye Dia scored on 34 from Przemysław Frankowski's pass, and Szymański added two, on 41 from Mahamadou Nagida and on 61 from Mousa Al-Tamari. Strasbourg have lost four in a row and are sixteenth.

Toulouse 0–0 Estac Troyes ended Troyes's run of five league defeats, though they did not have a shot on target. Toulouse had 63 per cent of the ball and three on target.

Monday

Paris Saint-Germain 2–0 Lyon, moved from Sunday to Monday after the Paris police prefecture banned it that weekend, AP reported, was won from the bench. Mika Godts came on on 57 and Senny Mayulu on 65, and Mayulu scored on 72 from Godts's pass; Godts made it two on 84 from Quentin Ndjantou, another substitute. PSG had 68 per cent of the ball and ten shots on target, and Dominik Greif made seven saves for Lyon. PSG were without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, out long term after tearing a cruciate ligament against Barcelona, ESPN notes. It was their fifth league win in a row; Lyon have lost two of their last three.

The table after matchday 8

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Paris Saint-Germain	8	5	2	1	+7	17
2	Rennes	8	5	1	2	+4	16
3	Lille	8	4	3	1	+5	15
4	Monaco	8	4	3	1	+4	15
5	Lyon	8	4	2	2	+6	14
6	Paris FC	8	4	2	2	+4	14
7	Lens	8	4	1	3	+4	13
8	Marseille	8	4	0	4	+5	12
9	Lorient	8	3	3	2	+1	12
10	Nice	8	3	2	3	−2	11
11	Toulouse	8	2	4	2	+1	10
12	Auxerre	8	3	1	4	−6	10
13	Stade Brestois 29	8	2	3	3	+2	9
14	Angers	8	2	2	4	−6	8
15	Le Mans	8	1	4	3	−5	7
16	Strasbourg	8	2	1	5	−6	7
17	Estac Troyes	8	1	2	5	−11	5
18	Le Havre	8	0	2	6	−7	2

PSG lead on 17, a point ahead of Rennes and two ahead of Lille and Monaco, with Lyon and Paris FC three behind; four points cover the top seven. The points race shows how PSG got there: no win from their first three matches, then five in a row, while Monaco, who led after the opening weeks, have taken two points from their last three. At the bottom, Le Havre have two points and Troyes five, two behind Le Mans and Strasbourg.

Numbers to know

• E. Lepaul (Rennes) still leads the scorers with seven, ahead of L. Sinayoko (Paris FC) on six; C. Archer (Auxerre), A. Gouiri (Marseille) and C. Tengstedt (Toulouse) have five.
• Rennes and Marseille have scored 18, the most; Troyes five, the fewest.
• Lille and Lorient have conceded six, the fewest; Auxerre and Strasbourg 18, the most.
• Le Havre are the only side without a win, and Strasbourg have lost four in a row.
• Eight of the round's 22 goals were scored by substitutes.

Next up

Matchday 9 opens on Friday 30 October with Le Havre v Paris Saint-Germain at 18:00 UTC and Lille v Lens at 20:05 UTC. On Saturday 31 October Nice v Rennes kicks off at 16:15 UTC, and Lorient v Stade Brestois 29, Lyon v Angers and Estac Troyes v Le Mans at 19:45 UTC. On Sunday 1 November Strasbourg v Auxerre is at 14:00 UTC, Paris FC v Monaco at 16:15 UTC, and Marseille v Toulouse closes the round at 19:45 UTC. The full round is on the Ligue 1 page.

Sources for the context: OGC Nice, LOSC, LOSC, Le Havre AC, AP via ESPN, ESPN.