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Monaco rout Bastia, PSG flop at Montpellier

Xinhua, December 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Monaco went top in Ligue 1 after routing lowly Bastia 5-0 at home on Saturday, while Paris Saint-Germain suffered a shock 3-0 defeat at Montpellier.

Les Parisiens, the defending champions of France's top flight, were handed their heaviest loss in Ligue 1 since November 2011 and their first in Montpellier since 2004.

Montpellier, the last club to win the title before PSG claimed it four seasons in a row, showed clinical efficiency to convert its three shots on target.

Goals either side of the interval from Paul Lasne and Ellyes Skhiri respectively, followed by a late Ryad Boudebouz strike, proved more than enough to hand Unai Emery's team their first defeat in nine league outings.

PSG's stumble left them adrift of top spot by a single point, with Nice still to host Toulouse on Sunday evening, while letting Monaco take advantage to go top overnight with a comprehensive 5-0 victory.

Hosting struggling Bastia at Stade Louis II, the Principality side got off to the perfect start with just 10 minutes into the game as Kylian Mbappe pounced after Jean-Louis Leca had done superbly to keep out Radamel Falcao's initial header.

Then four second-half goals helped Leonardo Jardim's side extend their unbeaten league run to seven games and lift them over Nice with goal differences.

Falcao's superb ball picked out Lemar at the back post on 66 minutes to double the principality side's lead, before the Colombian Tiger himself bagged a brace in five minutes and Guido Carrillo's goal wrapped up the win and condemned Bastia to a ninth Ligue 1 game without a win.

Also on Saturday, Lyon's visit to Metz was halted midway as firecrackers thrown onto the pitch exploded underneath Lyon goalie Anthony Lopes when he was receiving treatment and later forced the match abandoned with Metz leading 1-0.

Elsewhere, Lille nipped a 1-0 victory at Bordeaux, their first win on the road in Ligue 1 this season, Lorient remain rooted to the foot of the table after a 2-2 draw away at Angers, and Nantes stay on second from bottem after losing to Guingamp 2-0. Endit