Paris Saint Germain claimed their second successive French Ligue 1 title
without having to kick a ball after Monaco were held to a 1-1 draw at
home by lowly Guingamp.
PSG will go into their game with Rennes at
the Parc des Princes later on Wednesday evening as champions once again
thanks to Fatik Atik's 86th-minute equaliser at the Stade Louis II,
which came soon after Dimitar Berbatov had fired second-placed Monaco
ahead.
Guingamp lost Moustapha Diallo to a red card late on but
Monaco could not find the winner they needed to keep the title race
going for at least a while longer.
Claudio Ranieri's men came into
the match eight points behind PSG with only three games to go and
knowing anything other than victory would see them concede the league.
And
they were left frustrated by Guingamp, who made life tough for their
hosts from the off and almost took a surprise lead after 20 minutes
through Mustapha Yatabare, who just failed to make good contact with a
header from Claudio Beauvue's cross.
Despite Monaco seeing most of
the ball, neither keeper had anything to do as the half-hour mark came
and went, and it was visitors who came close again just before the
break.
They hit Ranieri's team on the counter and the ball
eventually fell to Thibault Giresse, who escaped into the left of the
area but his drilled effort was punched clear by the diving Danijel
Subasic.
Following the first shot on target, the game sprung into
life and Guingamp went close once again with Subasic diving to keep out
Lionel Mathis' stinging 20-yard strike before Berbatov headed over from
close range at the other end shortly before the half-time whistle.
Monaco
were incensed soon after the restart when Andrea Raggi burst into the
area before going down under a clumsy challenge from Christophe Kerbrat,
only for experienced referee Stephane Lannoy to wave play on with
Berbatov seeing his resulting shot blocked.
The hosts continued to
look for that elusive opener and Jeremy Toulalan went close in stunning
fashion after Joao Moutinho's corner found the former Lyon man on the
edge of the box, his first-time volley flying millimetres wide of the
top left corner.
Monaco's second-half efforts finally paid off when, with just 13 minutes left on the clock, Berbatov made the breakthrough.
Nabil
Dirar's powerful attacking run got him to the right byline and the
Morocco international's chipped cross found the former Manchester United
hitman who powered a header beyond Mamadou Samassa.
With Monaco
seemingly comfortable the visitors stunned Ranieri's men with just six
minutes left when Atik stabbed home Yatabare's knock down to level the
scores.
Guingamp were forced to see out the final few minutes when
Diallo was shown a straight red for a nasty-looking challenge on
Toulalan but Jocelyn Gourvennec's side held on to hand PSG the title.
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