PARIS — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat trick as Paris Saint-Germain beat Nice 3-1 to move four points clear atop the French league Saturday. Ibrahimovic converted a cross from Gregory Van der Wiel in the 39th minute before scoring from the penalty spot in the 57th. Nice defender Nemanja Pejcinovic pulled one back from close range in the 70th but Ibrahimovic put the result beyond doubt with a header in the 75th for his eighth league goal. “We're lucky to have players who score a lot of goals,” PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. “You can have as much ball possession as you want, but it's useless if you're not efficient in front of goal.” PSG is the only French club still undefeated this season while Nice suffered a third straight loss to drop to 12th place. Also, it was: Guingamp 0, Lille 0; Lorient 0, Reims 0; Bastia 1, Rennes 0; Toulouse 1, Ajaccio 1; and Valenciennes 1, Montpellier 1. On Friday, Monaco drew 1-1 with Evian. Ibrahimovic made Nice pay for its defensive frailties by ghosting past fullback Gregoire Puel to flick home Van der Wiel's offering. He came close to doubling the lead on the stroke of halftime, but headed wide Javier Pastore's free kick. The Sweden striker dropped back in the 56th to send a ball over the top for Cavani, who was brought down by Veronese. Ibrahimovic converted the subsequent penalty by sending the keeper the wrong way. PSG seemed in control but Nice capitalized on the hosts' complacency. A low cross from Bruls eluded the PSG defense and Pejcinovic at the far post tapped home. However, Ibrahimovic restored PSG's two-goal lead by outjumping the defense to head in a cross from Lucas Moura. The Brazilian midfielder, who replaced Pastore in the 74th, had a good impact on the right flank. His cross in the 86th took a deflection off Nice defender Timothee Kolodziejczak, forcing a wrongfooted Veronese to make a save with his left leg. Mainz downs Frankfurt Mainz 05 grabbed an 88th-minute winner through Maxim Choupo-Moting to edge past Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Sunday and climb to eighth place in the Bundesliga. Choupo-Moting rose high to head in a corner and give Mainz a much-needed victory, only their second in the last nine games. Frankfurt remained in 15th place on 10 points, two above the relegation playoff spot. Bayern Munich opened up a four-point gap at the top after easing past Augsburg 3-0 Saturday, setting a league record with their 37th successive game without defeat. Borussia Dortmund lost ground when it was stunned 2-1 by VfL Wolfsburg to stay second on 28, level with Bayer Leverkusen which beat Hamburg SV 5-3.— Agencies
