Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Lyon: Super subs Mayulu and Godts send PSG top

Substitutes Senny Mayulu and Mika Godts delivered a 2-0 win over Lyon for Paris Saint-Germain, sending their side to the top of Ligue 1.

Although both teams struggled to create for much of the match, the quality Mayulu and Godts brought on earned Luis Enrique's side all three points.

Early on, Desire Doue slickly beat four Lyon defenders but could not get past goalkeeper Dominik Greif, while Fabian Ruiz's first-time effort went wide.

Ferran Torres then failed to find the target after Lyon gave the ball away in their own half; the Spaniard later tried his luck from a tight angle, but Greif denied him with an outstretched leg.

Lyon increased the pressure towards the end of the first half, with Julien Duranville and Zachary Athekame testing goalkeeper Matvey Safonov. Greif was equal to both chances that fell to Maghnes Akliouche for PSG.

Right at the start of the second half, Joao Neves tried a neat strike from outside the box, but it missed the target.

Ferran was once again thwarted by Greif from a tight angle, and Mayulu, who replaced him in the 72nd minute, was the man to break the deadlock. After a superb team move, Mayulu met Godts' cut-back with a clean finish into the bottom-left corner to put PSG ahead.

Twelve minutes later, it was Godts' turn to take centre stage. Running onto a magnificent long ball over the defence from Quentin Ndjantou, the Belgian beat Greif with a shot from the edge of the box to make it 2-0.

PSG have the last laugh again

PSG went into this match, which was postponed by 24 hours due to street unrest in the French capital, on a seven-game winning run in all competitions, but had paid a heavy price for their 4-2 Champions League win over Barcelona.

Luis Enrique was without Ousmane Dembele and Marquinhos as well as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury. Even so, the Parisians proved once again just how crucial squad depth is.

Having struggled for the first 70 minutes and found it hard to break down the Lyon defence, the capital club maintained their habit of never giving up. The reigning champions have now earned 12 points this season through goals scored after the 60th minute, and Godts, with a goal and an assist, changed the course of the match.

Though they had to wait, PSG found the net to extend their run of scoring in each of their last 53 Ligue 1 home matches (134 goals in total), the longest such streak in the last 50 years, equalling Monaco's record of 53 matches between September 2015 and April 2018.

Lyon, who went into the round as leaders, dropped to third with this defeat. The visitors finished the match with 8 shots producing 0.62 expected goals (xG), while PSG generated 0.87 xG from their 17 attempts and secured the result through the quality of their finishing.