PSG pile pressure on Monaco

Paris St Germain put pressure on Monaco at the top of Ligue 1, beating Bordeaux 2-0 to temporarily move six points clear.

Paris St Germain put pressure on Monaco at the top of Ligue 1, beating Bordeaux 2-0 to temporarily move six points clear. Second-half goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alex settled a hard-fought game in PSG's favour. Monaco take on Lorient on Saturday and will have to put a dent in their opponents' impressive home record if they are to stay within striking distance of Laurent Blanc's side. The champions had the first chance early on when Thiago Silva glanced a header across goal from Lucas Moura's corner. The Brazilian's effort was blocked but appeared to be heading wide in any case. They were perhaps unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was wrestled to the ground, in the box but off the ball, by Carlos Henrique. Bordeaux tried to carve out chances of their own but Henri Saivet slipped and saw his shot saved, and Landry Nguemo then shot wide from 25 yards. At the other end, Ludovic Sane threw himself headlong in front of an Ibrahimovic shot while another chance went begging when Edinson Cavani took a touch too many and lost his footing. Ibrahimovic had another penalty appeal rejected when he went down under pressure from Sane early in the second half. Cavani then swung a shot over the bar from out wide but the opener arrived in the 58th minute. The ball was fed out to the right wing to Lucas Moura, who appeared to be offside. If Bordeaux were aggrieved by the absence of a flag, though, they had only themselves to blame for leaving Ibrahimovic unattended six yards out to turn in the Brazilian's cross. Mariano made a vital clearance in front of Ibrahimovic after keeper Cedric Carrasso fumbled Javier Pastore's shot back into the middle of the penalty area. PSG introduced new signing Yohan Cabaye in place of Pastore midway through the second half, while Bordeaux's substitute Guillaume Hoarau had a 20-yard shot saved by Salvatore Sirigu. Cavani picked up a knock and was replaced by Ezequiel Lavezzi, whose superb chipped pass almost set Cabaye up for a debut goal, the midfielder heading against the post. Lavezzi's follow-up effort was blocked but from the resulting corner, Alex stylishly swept home Lucas Moura's low delivery to make the points safe.