Lionel Messi Scores, Sets Up One For Sergio Ramos As PSG Beat Nice 2-0

A win for PSG's nearest challengers Lens on Friday had cut their lead at the top of the table to just three points before this game, and before the top two meet in Paris next weekend.

Lionel Messi scored one goal and set up another for Sergio Ramos as Paris Saint-Germain won 2-0 at Nice on Saturday to restore their six-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table and ease the pressure on coach Christophe Galtier. Messi converted a Nuno Mendes cross in the 26th minute before Gianluigi Donnarumma produced several key saves and Dante was denied by the woodwork as PSG's goal lived a charmed life on the Cote d'Azur. Ramos then ended any doubt about the outcome when he headed in a Messi corner with 14 minutes remaining, as PSG bounced back from suffering consecutive home defeats.

Those losses had piled the pressure on Galtier amid reports he may not even see out the season.

The result clearly meant a lot to Galtier, who was in charge at Nice last season and expressed his displeasure at a banner unfurled by the home supporters aimed at his mother.

"My mum is 83 and has just had cancer. That's all. And if these people in the stands have been watching games in Europe this season it is because of the work I did last season," said Galtier, who led Nice to fifth in his single campaign at the club.

A win for PSG's nearest challengers Lens on Friday had cut their lead at the top of the table to just three points before this game, and before the top two meet in Paris next weekend.