Euro Bites: Ligue 1 - PSG smash Monaco on Angel Di Maria debut, Nabil Fekir among the goals for Lyon and Michel's Marseille honeymoon over

PSG made a strong early title race statement with victory over Monaco with Angel Di Maria making a winning debut for the champions this weekend

They remain top of the pile in Ligue 1 with four wins from as many games and are yet to even concede a goal after a 3-0 win over Monaco.

Stade de Reims and Stade Rennais are doing their best to keep up though; both three points adrift of the French champions and league leaders.

Down at the bottom, Gazelec Ajaccio are now propping up the pile after a 1-0 loss away at Lille OSC and that is where the Corsican minnows will be expected to stay for the rest of the season.

PSG WITH RARE WIN IN MONACO TO MAINTAIN PERFECT START

PSG’s 3-0 win away at Monaco last Sunday was the French champions’ first victory in the principality since 2007.

The win is also a heavy early blow to les Monegasques’ title aspirations and leaves Leonardo Jardim’s men seven points behind PSG in the early season table.

Edinson Cavani ended his goal drought with a well-taken header and a simple finish after being played in by the returning Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ezequiel Lavezzi completed the convincing win, netting clinically after debutant and substitute Angel Di Maria played him in with a sumptuous ball over the top.

ANGEL DI MARIA FINALLY MAKES PSG DEBUT - AND HAS IMMEDIATE IMPACT

The moment PSG and Ligue 1 had been waiting for since Angel Di Maria signed for the capital club in early August finally arrived at Stade Louis II on Sunday and it was worth waiting for.

After 66 minutes, the Argentina international was brought on in place of the ineffective Lucas Moura and the former Manchester United man had an immediate impact.

Di Maria’s first action was to pick out Edinson Cavani with a perfect cross that the Uruguayan should have scored from.

Then, with seven minutes remaining in the principality, el Fideo collected the ball inside his own half, found himself some space, and played a sensational lofted through ball over the entire Monaco defence to Ezequiel Lavezzi for his fellow Argentinian to score.

HAT-TRICK MAN NABIL FEKIR TOP THE SCORING CHARTS

Olympique Lyonnais’ Alexandre Lacazette might be struggling at the start of this new Ligue 1 season, but teammate Nabil Fekir is doing his best to ensure that Hubert Fournier’s men do not miss him too much.

Les Gones enjoyed a thumping 4-0 win away at Stade Malherbe Caen on Saturday and the France international scored three in the space of 38 minutes. Claudio Beauvue added an emphatic late fourth and Fekir is currently le Championnat’s leading scorer with four goals.

REALITY CHECK FOR MICHEL AT MARSEILLE

After Olympique de Marseille’s 6-0 rout of ESTAC Troyes in his first game in charge, EA Guingamp looked like ideal opponents for Michel’s first experience of life on the road in Ligue 1 on Friday.

However, things did not go according to plan for the Spaniard in his second game at the helm.

Lassana Diarra conceded a penalty inside of two minutes at Stade du Roudourou, but Sloan Privat saw his spot-kick saved by Marseille’s Steve Mandanda.

That close shave was not enough of a wake up call for OM though.

Guingamp, pointless and goalless pre-match, finally broke their Ligue 1 duck after 72 minutes when Privat atoned for his penalty miss. Nicolas Benezet then made the points safe with a last minute second for the hosts.

Les Phoceens are now down in 15th place in the table at present and just one point above the drop zone.

MIXED FORTUNES FOR FRENCH TEAMS IN EUROPEAN DRAW

After Monaco were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League play-offs by Valencia CF last Tuesday, the principality outfit dropped into the hat for the UEFA Europa League draw later in the week, joining Marseille, AS Saint-Etienne and Girondins de Bordeaux.

Les Monegasques have arguably the toughest task, drawing Tottenham Hotspur, Anderlecht RSC and Qarabag FK in Group J, while ASSE and les Girondins also face challenges.

Saint-Etienne were drawn in Group G with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Lazio and Rosenborg, while OM should advance as one of the top two teams from Group F despite drawing Braga, Slovan Liberec and Groningen.

In the Champions League, PSG drew Spanish giants Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and Ibrahimovic’s hometown club Malmo FF in Group A. Lyon, meanwhile, were handed an easier task in Group H with FC Zenit, KAA Gent and Monaco’s conquerors Valencia.

SAINT-ETIENNE’S JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BAHEBECK SUFFERS HEALTH SCARE

Saint-Etienne have confirmed that Jean-Christophe Bahebeck had to be rushed to hospital during Sunday’s 2-1 win over SC Bastia because of chest pains.

The PSG loanee had to be substituted on a roasting hot day in France and an official club statement read that “after feeling discomfort during the match, Bahebeck was hospitalised to undergo further investigations.”

ASSE coach Christophe Gatier was visibly moved by the news post-match and, close to tears, expressed his hope that it was nothing more than heatstroke.

Thankfully, les Verts’ coach seems to have been proved correct, after Bahebeck himself took to Twitter later in the day to confirm his wellbeing and to thank people for their messages of support.