PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint Germain returned to the top of the French league on Saturday thanks to a favor from Champions League playoff opponent Monaco.
Désiré Doue, Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos scored for PSG to defeat last-place Metz 3-0 and capitalize on Monaco’s earlier 3-2 win over previous leader Lens.
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PSG's Dro Fernandez gestures before the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Metz's Sadibou Sane, left, and PSG's Bradley Barcola challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
PSG's Bradley Barcola, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
PSG's Lucas Beraldo reacts during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
PSG's Bradley Barcola, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
PSG moved two points clear of Lens with 11 rounds to play.
Lens had moved top the previous weekend with a 5-0 rout of promoted Paris FC while PSG lost 3-1 at Rennes.
But Lens’ hopes of a prolonged stay at the summit were dealt a bitter blow Saturday after it squandered a comfortable two-goal lead and conceded three goals to Metz after the hour-mark.
Odsonne Édouard scored early with a volley for Lens and Florian Thauvin converted the rebound after Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn could only parry a deflected shot early in the second half.
That was as good as it got for the home team.
United States forward Folarin Balogun scored against the run of play in the 62nd, Denis Zakaria equalized in the 70th and Ansu Fati pounced on another defensive blunder to make it 3-2 two minutes after that.
It was quite the reversal for Monaco, which led PSG 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League playoff on Tuesday after two goals from Balogun, only to lose 3-2.
Lens’ evening was summed up when Saud Abdulhamid was booked for diving instead of getting a penalty that he felt he deserved.
Metz must have feared a rout when Doue scored after just two minutes of play after Warren Zaïre-Emery played a long ball in behind the high line of Metz defenders.
Ramos played the ball across goal for Barcola to head the second before the break.
The home team played it safe after it, when it failed to register a shot on target until Ramos got the third in the 77th.
PSG could arguably have scored more but seemed more intent on conserving energy for Wednesday’s rendezvous with Monaco for the second leg of their Champions League playoff in Paris. The winner will go on to face Barcelona or Chelsea in the round of 16.
Also Saturday, Argentine teenager Julián Vignolo scored late as a substitute for mid-table Toulouse to draw 1-1 with promoted Paris FC.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
PSG's Dro Fernandez gestures before the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Metz's Sadibou Sane, left, and PSG's Bradley Barcola challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
PSG's Bradley Barcola, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
PSG's Lucas Beraldo reacts during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
PSG's Bradley Barcola, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Metz in Paris, France, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
MILAN (AP) — Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo set the record for the most golds by one athlete in a single Winter Olympics as the Norwegian star completed his historic gold medal sweep of the men’s cross-country skiing events on Saturday.
Klaebo’s triumph in the 50-kilometer mass start race was his sixth victory at the Milan Cortina Games and shattered the nearly 50-year record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
Klaebo’s teammates, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, took silver, and Emil Iversen won bronze in a Norwegian sweep.
The win extends Klaebo’s record for most career Winter Olympic gold medals to 11 over three Games. The previous record had been eight, which Klaebo broke Feb. 15.
Klaebo has the second-most Olympic golds overall. U.S. swimming great Michael Phelps has 23.
Jordan Stolz missed out on his chance to become the first man since 1994 to collect three gold medals in long track speedskating at one Olympics, with the American finishing fourth in the mass start behind 40-year-old champion Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands.
Bergsma is the oldest man to win a speedskating gold, finishing ahead of Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark and Italy's Andrea Giovannini.
The gold in the women’s mass start also went to a Dutch skater: reigning world champion Marijke Groenewoud. Ivanie Blondin of Canada was the silver medalist for the second Games in a row, followed by Mia Manganello of the U.S. with the bronze.
The United States Olympic team won its record-breaking 11th gold medal of the Games when the trio of Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran and Chris Lillis took the title in mixed aerials.
The 11th gold breaks the country’s record set at the last Olympics on U.S. soil — in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Finland won the bronze medal in men’s hockey at the Olympics for a third consecutive time with NHL players participating, beating Slovakia 6-1.
Erik Haula scored two goals and Joel Armia had a goal and two assists for Finland, which also got bronze in Sochi in 2014 and in Vancouver in 2010, and left Turin in 2006 with silver.
The U.S. faces Canada for gold on Sunday.
The Canadian men beat Britain for gold in curling while the women's team overcame its disappointment to beat the U.S, for the bronze.
Brad Jacobs’ team defeated Bruce Mouat’s all-Scottish squad 9-6 inside Cortina’s historic ice arena to give curling powerhouse Canada it’s only gold of the Olympics in the sport.
In the women’s event, top-ranked Canada won 10-7 to deny the American women their first medal in the event.
Rachel Homan’s team had been upset by Sweden in the semifinals.
Kaillie Humphries Armbruster won her sixth career Olympic bobsled medal, tying monobob gold medalist Elana Meyers Taylor for the most by any woman in the sport’s history.
The American claimed bronze in the two-woman race, behind Laura Nolte — who successfully defended her title — and Lisa Buckwitz.
Emily Harrop finally got her hands on an Olympic gold medal, combining with Thibault Anselmet to win the mixed relay for France as part of ski mountaineering’s Olympic debut.
Harrop and Anselmet finished the Stelvio course in a time of 26 minutes, 57.44 seconds, holding off the Swiss team of Marianne Fatton and Jon Kistler by 11.86 seconds. Spanish racers Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardona Coll captured the bronze.
Harrop had been favored to win the individual sprint race on Thursday and the first-ever skimo Olympic medal but finished behind Fatton. Anselmet was third in his race, with Cardona Coll claiming gold.
Freeskiers Simone Deromedis and Federico Tomasoni added to the Olympic host country’s medal haul with a 1-2 finish in the men’s skicross final.
Deromedis dominated the four-skier final to win gold while Tomasoni needed a photo-finish to claim silver after stretching to barely beat Alex Fiva. They both celebrated with Italian flags draped over their shoulders as snow fell.
Deromedis gave Italy its 10th gold medal of the Milan Cortina Olympics. Italy’s overall haul is 30 at the end of the penultimate day.
Italy's previous best Winter Olympics was the Lillehammer Games in 1994, when it picked up 20 medals.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
France's Emily Harrop competes during a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Gold medalists United States' Christopher Lillis, Connor Curran and Kaila Kuhn celebrate after the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Gold medallist Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands celebrates winning the men's mass start final speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Jordan Stolz of the U.S. warms up ahead of the mass start speedskating races at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, of Norway, crosses the finish line to win the gold medal during the cross country skiing men's 50km mass start Classic at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
