PSG victory boosts morale before president switch

Paris Saint Germain’s 2-0 home victory over Caen at the Parc des Princes on Saturday shot them up to provisional third spot in the French league, days before their club president departs.

Guillaume Hoarau and Peguy Luyindula scored in the second half for a symbolic victory for PSG in the interim period between the announcement of the resignation of Charles Villeneuve and the General Assembly on February 3 when his successor, expected to be Sebastien Bazin, will be officially nominated.

PSG coach Puel Le Guen said on the off-pitch matters: “Things need to be cleared up and they will be. We have tried hard to protect the squad and a real group effort has managed to do that. We have just tried to focus on a our footballing goals.”

Luyindula is anxious to extend his contract, which runs for the next 18 months, and his goal against Caen will not have done him any harm on that score.

PSG thereby leapfrog Marseille, Rennes and Toulouse into third spot from sixth though that situation could soon change as Rennes and Toulouse meet in Saturday’s late match and Marseille travel to Sochaux on Sunday.

The new man at the helm arrives with PSG riding high in four competitions.

They beat Ajaccio in the last 32 of the French Cup at the weekend, meet Bordeaux in the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday, and continue their UEFA Cup run in early March.

Once more, 24-year-old Hoarau got on the scoresheet, firing home his 13th goal of the season in the 48th minute before Luyindula doubled their score in the 58th minute.

Other matches saw Monaco beat Grenoble and Valenciennes beat Nice, both by 1-0, Nantes won 2-0 at Le Mans, Nancy had a 3-2 away victory against Le Havre and Auxerre and Lorient played out a goalless draw.

Apart from Sochaux versus Marseille, Sunday sees games between Bordeaux and Lille, and Lyon and St Etienne.