Ramos shines in Mbappé's absence as PSG romp past Lyon to go 11 points clear

Gonçalo Ramos bagged a brace on Sunday night as Paris Saint-Germain swept past Lyon 4-1 to move 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

The visitors arrived at the Parc des Princes as one of the form teams in the division having amassed 34 points from a possible 45 to climb away from the relegation zone into the security of mid table.

But within six minutes they were trailing by two goals.

On PSG's first foray into Lyon territory, Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic sliced the ball past his own goalkeeper Anthony Lopes to give the hosts the perfect start after two minutes.

Lucas Beraldo prodded in the second as Lyon's defenders failed to deal with a corner from the left.

Change

But after the flurry, Lyon gradually established a foothold. Said Benrahma on the left and Ernest Nuamah on the right began to make inroads.

Ramos's first strike after 33 minutes ended the revolt. The Portugal international rose between Jake O'Brien and Ainsley Maitland-Niles to head Achraf Hakimi's cross from the right powerfully past Lopes.

Under Pierre Sage, Lyon have added grit to their repertoire. And despite the 3-0 scoreline they continued to probe.

Within four minutes, their willingness yielded dividends. Nuamah cut in from the right, swerved along the edge of the PSG penalty area and fired past the PSG goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma to suggest a contest.

Difference

But as half-time approached, PSG midfielder Vitinha swivelled past two Lyon players deep in his own half to orchestrate a counterattack. He fed Marco Asensio who took the ball forward and passed for Ramos to steer it past the hapless Lopes to make it 4-1.

Last Sunday, Lyon came from 3-1 down to beat Brest 4-3.

PSG boss Luis Enrique offered no such redemption for a second week running. The five substitutions he made from midway through the second-half fulfilled their function to maintain the scoreline and to lay bare the gulf in class and quality between PSG and Lyon.

At the start of the century, Lyon won seven successive titles to roam as the big beast in the French footballing firmament.

But less than two decades later and with a billion euros invested in the project under the aegis of the Qatar Sport Investments, PSG rule the roost. 

Despite the boasts of Lyon supremo John Textor who predicted on his takeover two years ago that Lyon would be rivalling PSG for domestic titles, the reality is a 25-point difference after 30 games and PSG's capacity to swat aside his outfit without star striker Kylian Mbappé.

Performance

"We started really well," Enrique told broadcaster Prime Video. "We created lots of chances because we kept the ball intelligently.

"I'm pleased with the performance."
Lyon drop to eighth following the defeat and Rennes' 3-0 victory at Nantes which takes them to seventh.

On Sunday afternoon, Monaco moved into second place and pole position to follow PSG into next season's Champions League following a 2-0 win at Brest.

Denis Zakaria got the opener for the visitors just before the pause at the Stade Francis le Blé and Takumi Minamino doubled the advantage soon after the restart.

Brest drop to third with 53 points after 30 games. Lille, who beat Strasbourg 1-0 on Sunday lie one point behind Brest but have a game in hand.

PSG could wrap up their 10th title in 12 seasons on Wednesday evening should they win at Lorient and Monaco fail to beat Lille.