Mbappe nets twice in win over Lorient but PSG's title party delayed by Monaco victory

LORIENT, France (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain will have to wait at least a few more days to try to clinch the French league title.

Kylian Mbappé scored twice and provided an assist in a 4-1 win over Lorient on Wednesday, but there were no celebrations because second-place Monaco beat Lille 1-0 later in the evening.

The lead atop the standings is 11 points with four games remaining. Defending champion PSG can clinch its record-extending 12th French league title at home on Saturday against Le Havre.

PSG remains on course for a treble of trophies in Mbappé’s final season with the club, as it will play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals and face Lyon in the French Cup final next month.

In a match between the most prolific attack and the most porous defense in the league, PSG winger Ousmane Dembélé opened the scoring in the 19th minute in Lorient, a sleepy seaport in Brittany.

Mbappé doubled the lead by nonchalantly flicking a cross from Nuno Mendes into the far corner in the 22nd.

The France forward set up the third goal by dribbling past Nathaniel Adjei to square the ball back to Dembélé, who tapped into an empty net.

Mbappé sealed the win in the 90th with a curler into the far corner to solidify his spot as the top scorer in the league by raising his tally to 26 goals.

“We had a good game, we were serious, we deserve the three points,” Dembélé told Amazon Prime. “Now we must finish the job to be champions as quickly as possible.”

Relegation-threatened Lorient scored a consolation goal with a powerful header from Mohamed Bamba off a cross from Benjamin Mendy in the 73rd.

Gianluigi Donnarumma prevented a nervy finish by saving a low strike from Lorient substitute Panos Katseris in the 80th.

PSG coach Luis Enrique fielded a makeshift team that included academy players Senny Mayulu and Yoram Zague. Managing his players’ minutes, Luis Enrique even left Marquinhos, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, Bradley Barcola and Warren Zaire-Emery out of the matchday squad.

PSG has only lost one league game this season, and that was in September.

Monaco won a fourth straight game to go six points clear of fourth-place Lille and move closer to an automatic Champions League spot.

France midfielder Youssouf Fofana won the ball in midfield and scored the lone goal with a low drive from the edge of the box in the 61st.

Lille trails third-place Brest by a point and still occupies the spot for the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Also Wednesday, Marseille’s European hopes took a hit after a 2-2 draw with fifth-place Nice.

Nigeria forward Terem Moffi put Nice ahead in the 13th after goalkeeper Pau Lopez came off his line and missed the ball.

Marseille right back Jonathan Clauss leveled the game with a powerful strike from the edge of the box in the 31st.

Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Marseille the lead with a penalty in the 56th after Mohamed-Ali Cho had fouled Leonardo Balerdi.

But Nice left back Melvin Bard equalized with a low diagonal shot in the 72nd.

Marseille leapfrogged Lyon into eighth place, five points off the last European spot.

Those three games were rescheduled to help PSG, Marseille and Lille prepare for European games.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates scoring his side's third goal during the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PSG's Ousmane Dembele, top, celebrates with PSG's Kylian Mbappe, after Dembele scored his side's third goal during the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PSG's Kylian Mbappe, right, and Lorient's Panos Katseris vie for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PSG players with Kylian Mbappe, arms in the air, celebrate after the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PSG players celebrate with Kylian Mbappe, center, who scored his side's fourth goal during the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PSG's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma celebrates after the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PSG players with Kylian Mbappe, arms in the air, celebrate after the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PSG's Milan Skriniar, left, hugs Kylian Mbappe after winning the French League One soccer match between Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Moustoir stadium in Lorient, Brittany, western France, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

LONDON (AP) — London took center stage on Saturday as the counting of votes began in the capital city's mayoral contest, a day after Britain's governing Conservative Party suffered a drubbing in local election results.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party mayor who is chasing a historic third straight election win, had been widely expected to win easily, but there are some concerns that the race may be tighter than previously thought.

That's mainly due to the fact that turnout at Thursday's election — at a total of 40.5% — was higher in the outer suburbs than in the inner city. Khan's main opponent, the Conservatives' Susan Hall, focused her campaign on issues such as a levy imposed on high-polluting vehicles, which has resonated in the suburbs where residents depend more on their cars for work and essential travel.

Also, there are concerns within Labour that Khan may have suffered from the blowback of the party leadership's strong pro-Israel stance over the war in Gaza, which results Friday clearly showed depressed support in strongly Muslim areas in England.

The result is due around lunchtime but officials have cautioned that it could run into the early hours of Sunday.

Overall, the results of Thursday's array of local elections cemented expectations that the Labour Party will return to power after 14 years in a U.K. general election that will take place in the coming months.

Labour won control of councils in England that the party hasn’t held for decades, and was successful in a special election for a seat in Parliament. If those results are repeated in the general election, it would lead to one of the Conservatives' biggest-ever defeats.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley in the northeast of England was reelected, albeit with a depressed share of the vote.

The victory of Ben Houchen, who ran a very personal campaign, appears to have been enough to cushion Sunak from any revolt by Conservative lawmakers.

Sunak will be hoping that Andy Street will also hold on in the West Midlands, especially in Birmingham, which has a big Muslim community.

Labour leader Keir Starmer conceded that the party has had issues with Muslim voters, but the results in general were positive for the man who is favorite to become prime minister at the next general election.

“We're fed up with your division, with your chaos, with your failure,” he said Saturday. “If you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government a moment longer.”

He called on Sunak to call an election now. Sunak has the power to decide on the date, and has indicated that it will be in the second half of 2024.

Thursday’s elections in large parts of England were important in themselves, with voters deciding on who runs many aspects of their daily lives, such as garbage collection, road maintenance and local crime prevention. But with a national election looming, they are being viewed through a national prism.

John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said the results show that Sunak has not helped the Conservative brand following the damage accrued by the actions of his predecessors, Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss.

“That in a sense is the big takeaway," he told BBC radio.

Sunak became prime minister in October 2022, after Truss's short-lived tenure. She left office after 49 days following a budget of unfunded tax cuts that roiled financial markets and sent borrowing costs for homeowners surging.

Her chaotic — and traumatic — leadership compounded the Conservatives’ difficulties following the circus surrounding her predecessor Johnson, who was forced to quit after being adjudged to have lied to Parliament over coronavirus lockdown breaches at his offices in Downing Street.

By midmorning Saturday, with most of the 2,661 seats up for grabs in the local elections counted, the Conservatives were down by more than 446 while Labour was up 173. Other parties, such as the centrist Liberal Democrats and the Green Party also made gains. Reform U.K., which is trying to usurp the Conservatives from the right, also had some successes, notably in Blackpool South, where it was less than 200 votes from grabbing second place.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak smiles as he inspects the Passing Out Parade of the Parachute Regiment recruits during his visit to the Helles Barracks at the Catterick Garrison, a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Molly Darlington/Pool photo via AP)

Labour candidate Chris Webb celebrates after winning the Blackpool South by-election following the count at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

FILE - A woman pushes a buggy as she arrives to vote at a polling station in London, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Counting begins at the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, England, Thursday, May 2, 2024. The by-election was triggered after the resignation of Scott Benton. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

A woman holds an umbrella as she walks along the banks of the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Friday, May 3, 2024. Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Conservative party candidate Lord Ben Houchen, left, with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following his re-election as Tees Valley Mayor in Teesside, England, Friday May 3, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Britain's Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, center, and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, celebrate with David Skaith at Northallerton Town Football Club, North Yorkshire, after winning the York and North Yorkshire mayoral election, Friday May 3, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks as he takes part in broadcasting a clip during his visit to the Helles Barracks at the Catterick Garrison, a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Molly Darlington/Pool photo via AP)