PSG overcomes awful Marquinhos blunder to beat Nice 2-1

PARIS (AP) - Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain overcame an awful blunder by central defender Marquinhos to beat Nice 2-1 in the French league with a late Moise Kean goal on Saturday.

The win moved PSG to first place, but Lyon could overtake PSG by beating Montpellier at home later Saturday.

Marquinhos was under no pressure on the ball, but instead of clearing it he passed left across the penalty area and Rony Lopes intercepted the ball and finished with a powerful shot in the 50th minute.

Nice striker Amine Gouiri hit the crossbar 10 minutes later after the visitors sliced through PSG's defense with ease - a worrying sign given it faces Lionel Messi's Barcelona on Tuesday.

But with Nice right on top, PSG scored against the run of play when Kylian Mbappe crossed to the back post and Mauro Icardi expertly volleyed a pass to give Kean an easy header in the 75th.

Julian Draxler capped a rare appearance with a goal to put PSG ahead midway through the first half. The Germany winger slotted in from close range after Icardi slid to meet a cross and his shot bounced off the post toward Draxler.

With PSG only third in the league before the game, coach Mauricio Pochettino could ill afford to rest key players but also had to keep in mind the Champions League match against Barcelona.

Neymar is out injured for the next four weeks with an adductor injury, winger Angel Di Maria is nursing a thigh problem, and midfielder Marco Verratti is recovering from a bruised hip.

There was one bright spot, however. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas started after recovering from an adductor injury.

In Saturday's other game, sixth-placed Lens was at struggling Reims.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports