Paris (AFP)

The Paris SG of Marie-Antoinette Katoto nabbed the first place in the Championship on Friday from rivals and favorites Lyon (1-0), stunned by the opposing intensity and the exit on injury of Eugenie Le Sommer, probably forfeited with the Blue.

More enterprising, the Parisians have made a big splash for this gala poster, broadcast in "prime time" on Canal Plus and contested at the Parc des Princes, an unprecedented setting in women's D1.

This stroke of brilliance allows them to take the lead in the championship, one point ahead of the five-time European champions, queens of France for more than a decade.

It also allows them to erase the long tunnel of frustrations in which they were locked for many months against OL.

The women's PSG had not beaten Lyon since the final of the Coupe de France 2018 in Strasbourg (1-0).

In the league, we have to go back to December 2016 to find traces of the last Parisian success, on the same score.

At home, the vice-champions of France rose to the challenge thanks to a pressure that paid from the outset against Lyonnaises not sharp enough or well organized, as evidenced by the action of the Parisian goal.

On a ball lost by Amel Majri, blocked by two players, Kadidiatou Diani launched Katoto in depth.

The N.9 hooked Sarah Bouhaddi out to meet her before finding the nets with a cross shot that Kadeisha Buchanan failed to intercept (11th).

Of rage and deliverance, Katoto (22) roared with happiness in front of the empty stands where the PSG ultras usually sit, whose recorded songs were broadcast on loudspeakers throughout the meeting to hide their absence.

- Katoto and Le Sommer injured -

The top scorer of the last two seasons, spectacular on an acrobatic return before the break (42nd), agreed with her coach Olivier Echouafni.

The day before, he recalled that the series were "made to stop" even against Lyon, "the best team in the world now".

In the camp opposite, it was rather the soup to the grimace for Jean-Luc Vasseur, disappointed by the result and necessarily worried for the state of health of his striker Le Sommer, left on injury after less than one half an hour of play.

The top scorer in the history of the Blue, 31, stopped dead in the middle of the race on a counterattack and was forced to sit on the lawn, holding the back of the left thigh (28th) .

Replaced by Englishwoman Nikita Parris, "ELS" walked off the pitch but with her head down and her face scarred.

The injury of the Lyonnaise makes her presence on Monday very uncertain at the start of the rally of the France team for which she was summoned by Corinne Deacon.

Les Bleues play their last two qualifying matches for Euro-2022, starting with the group's shock in Guingamp on November 27 against Austria.

Deacon may also be worried about Katoto.

Injured by her teammate Wendie Renard, who tackled her hard in the right leg near the surface, "MAK" could not hold her place for the last quarter of an hour.

© 2020 AFP