PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain returned to the top of the French league on Saturday thanks to a favor from Champions League playoff opponent Monaco.
Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos scored for PSG to defeat last-place Metz 3-0 and capitalize on Monaco's earlier win over previous leader Lens.
PSG moved two points clear of Lens with 11 rounds remaining in the season.
PSG's Comfortable Victory
Metz feared a rout when Doué scored after just two minutes, following Warren Zaïre-Emery's long ball in behind the high defensive line.
Ramos then played the ball across goal for Barcola to head the second before halftime.
The home team failed to register a shot on target until Ramos added the third in the 77th minute.
PSG could arguably have scored more but seemed more intent on conserving energy for Wednesday's Champions League playoff second leg against Monaco in Paris.
Monaco Stuns Lens
Lens had moved to the 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 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 minute, Denis Zakaria equalized in the 70th and Ansu Fati pounced on another defensive blunder to make it 3-2 two minutes later.
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 simulation instead of receiving a penalty he felt he deserved.
Around the Ligue 1
Also Saturday, Argentine teenager Julián Vignolo scored late as a substitute for mid-table Toulouse to draw 1-1 with promoted Paris FC.