EURO BITES: Ligue 1 - Di Maria delights as PSG crush Angers, Troyes finally get first league win and Lyon offer to help PSG's European cause

Jonathan Johnson rounds-up the latest news from Ligue 1 with Angel Di Maria shining and his PSG side are offered a helping hand.

ANGEL DI MARIA STARS AS RAMPANT PSG DESTROY ANGERS

Paris Saint-Germain produced their strongest performance of 2016 so far in the 5-1 mauling of Angers SCO at Parc des Princes last Saturday.

It took the runaway Ligue 1 leaders 33 minutes to open the scoring through Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s deflected effort, before Lucas Moura made it 2-0 five minutes before half-time with a simple finish after good work by Gregory van der Wiel.

The encounter became the Angel Di Maria show in the second-half though. The Argentina international played a significant role in the build-up to PSG’s third, a glorious team move finished off by Gregory Van der Wiel nine minutes after the break, before scoring twice himself.

Di Maria made it 4-1 with a superb volleyed lob from outside the box after 63 minutes and doubled his tally three minutes later with a cheeky chipped effort.

El Fideo now has eight Ligue 1 goals and nine assists from 16 appearances, but six of each have come in his last nine outings in Le Championnat.

RENNES SWAP MONTANIER FOR COURBIS

After months of speculation over his future, Philippe Montanier was finally relieved of his duties as Stade Rennais coach last Wednesday.

The night before, the Breton outfit were beaten 3-1 at home in the Coupe de France round of 32 by Ligue 2 side Bourg-en-Bresse and president Rene Ruello wasted no time in making his decision.

Named as Montanier’s replacement, at least until the end of the season, is Rolland Courbis. The former Montpellier HSC man was only appointed as Ruello’s advisor the week before after leaving La Paillade because of “fatigue.”

Courbis took charge of Rennes for the first time against Gazelec Ajaccio on Friday and his new side handed him a winning start with a 1-0 home victory to end the Corsicans’ 11-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1.

TROYES FINALLY WIN A LIGUE 1 MATCH

At the 22nd attempt, ESTAC Troyes finally have their first win of the season in Ligue 1. Claude Robin’s men launched a late fightback to recover from 1-0 down away at Lille OSC to win 3-1 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Jimmy Cabot netted twice in the space of three minutes and Jessy Pi added another four minutes from time to cancel out Sofiane Boufal’s opening penalty.

The result takes Troyes into double figures for the season, with 11 points, but that is still nine behind second-bottom side Toulouse.

LYON AND MARSEILLE SHARE POINTS IN OLYMPICO

Ligue 1’s big game of the weekend finished in a 1-1 draw between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille at Parc OL last Sunday.

Newcastle United loanee Remy Cabella gave OM the lead after 64 minutes on his 100th start in Le Championnat, but substitute Corentin Tolisso equalised with 11 minutes left to secure a point for OL in an entertaining game.

Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda made a string of superb saves to keep Michel’s men in the game, but the France international’s brave resistance was eventually broken by Tolisso’s late strike.

Both sides are locked on 30 points, nine behind second-placed AS Monaco and a whopping 30 points behind runaway leaders PSG.

LIGUE 1 TRANSFER WATCH

It was quiet week for Ligue 1 in the transfer market, but AS Saint-Etienne have made their third move of the window.

Franck Tabanou, who left Les Verts for Swansea City last summer, has rejoined Christophe Galtier’s men on loan until the end of the season.

The former France under-21 international made just three cup competition appearances for the Premier League side and told L'Equipe upon returning that Swansea “never gave me my chance.”

AULAS AND LYON OFFER TO HELP PSG ON ONE CONDITION…

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas says that OL are prepared to help PSG in their quest to go as far as possible in this season’s UEFA Champions League and has offered the capital club the opportunity to rearrange their upcoming Coupe de France clash.

The pair have been drawn to face each other in the round of 16 in Paris, adding another game to Les Parisiens’ already busy schedule pre-Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League.

However, Aulas has imposed two conditions on the offer. Firstly, the game must be played at Parc OL and not at Parc des Princes.

Secondly, Les Gones would be able to select Benoit Bastien, the man who officiated the pair’s controversial recent meeting in the Coupe de la Ligue quarter-finals, as the referee.