Nantes inflict surprise defeat on Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain
It was their first league loss since early October.
Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain suffered an unexpected 3-1 defeat at Nantes.
Randal Kolo Muani gave the hosts an early lead before Lionel Messi was denied a swift equaliser by a fine save from Alban Lafont.
Nantes doubled their lead through a fine strike by Quentin Merlin in the 16th minute.
Dennis Appiah was shown a straight red card late in the first half after bring down Kylian Mbappe when he was through on goal – only for the decision to be changed to a yellow following a VAR review.
Referee Mikael Lesage then initially did not award a penalty for handball by Georginio Wijnaldum in stoppage time, only to take another look and point to the spot, with Ludovic Blas converting.
Neymar reduced the deficit just a couple of minutes after the restart when played in by Messi, but then saw his soft penalty saved after Mbappe had been brought down.
PSG remain 13 points clear of Marseille, who host Clermont on Sunday, after a first league loss since early October while Nantes move to fifth.
Earlier on Saturday, Lens and Lyon drew 1-1 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, where both goals came in the first half.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid extended their advantage to seven points with a 3-0 win over Alaves at the Bernabeu.
Vinicius Junior added a second with 11 minutes left and Karim Benzema rolled in a late penalty as Carlo Ancelotti’s side edged further clear of Sevilla, who travel to Espanyol on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid won 3-0 at Osasuna, where an early goal from Joao Felix set them on their way.
Luis Suarez doubled the lead on the hour and Angel Correa added a late third.
Villarreal are fifth after Arnaut Danjuma scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win at struggling Granada while it ended 1-1 between relegation-battlers Cadiz and Getafe.
In the Bundesliga, Hoffenheim closed up on the top three after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Wolfsburg.
Jacob Bruun Larsen and Andrej Kramaric struck twice in the space of five minutes late in the second half after Jonas Wind had earlier put Wolfsburg ahead.
Cologne maintained their top-six push with a 1-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to Anthony Modeste’s goal after 84 minutes.
Arminia Bielefeld edged out Union Berlin 1-0 to boost their survival hopes, while a last-minute penalty from Eduard Lowen earned Bochum a 1-1 draw at strugglers Stuttgart and Freiburg won 2-1 at Augsburg to sit fifth.
Serie A leaders AC Milan were held to a 2-2 draw at bottom club Salernitana.
Junior Messias had given the Rossoneri an early lead, only for a fine overhead kick from Federico Bonazzoli to haul the hosts back on level terms.
Milan Duric then headed Salernitana in front with 18 minutes left, but Ante Rebic’s long-range effort soon put paid to any thoughts of a stunning upset.
AC Milan are now just two points ahead of rivals Inter, who have games in hand and host Sassuolo on Sunday.
Roma came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Verona with a late strike from Edoardo Bove while Fabio Quagliarella scored a brace as Sampdoria beat Empoli 2-0.
