Toulouse hold PSG, Saint-Etienne lose in French league

Paris, Feb 20: Ligue 1 defending champions Paris Saint-Germain failed to build on their momentum in the UEFA Champions League as they recorded a goalless draw at home against Toulouse, while Saint-Etienne suffered their second defeat of the week in the contest for the fourth place with a 2-1 away loss to Montpellier.

On Sunday evening, PSG proved uble to recreate their win in the same stadium where they had battered multiple European champions FC Barcelo 4-0 in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 five days ago.

Without injured Argentine winger Angel Di Maria, the French defending champions found it difficult to hit the target. The best chance for them came in the second half, but Edinson Cavani’s effort was denied by a collective effort of the opposing team.

The draw extended PSG’s unbeaten run to 13 games in all competitions, and wasted a great chance to cut the gap from Moco to a single point after the league leaders tied struggling Bastia at 1-1 on Friday. Currently placed second, PSG were ahead of Nice on goal difference alone, who edged past bottom-ranked Lorient 1-0 a day earlier.

After being blasted away by Manchester United 3-0 in the Europa League last 32 first-leg on Thursday, Saint-Etienne still could not find a winning path back in the league, although they took an early lead on Kevin Monnet-Paquet’s goal 12 minutes into their game against Montpellier.

With a game in hand, fourth-ranked Lyon are four points above Saint-Etienne, Marseille and Bordeaux, who crushed Guingamp 3-0 earlier on Sunday. IANS