Thuram's son puts Nice back in second

Metz (France) (AFP) – Khephren Thuram’s goal set up a precious 2-0 away win for Nice on Sunday as they saw off strugglers Metz to climb to second place in France’s Ligue 1.

Thuram is one of the footballing sons of French 1998 World Cup icon Lilian Thuram, who scored twice in a memorable semi-final win over Croatia.

On Sunday the strapping 20-year-old Khephren opened the scoring for Nice in the 58th minute while a late spot-kick from Amine Gouiri completed the victory with a cheeky Panenka down the centre.

The three points lift Nice, owned by British chemicals magnate Jim Ratcliffe, above their bitter south coast rivals Marseille, who are a point behind in third with a game in hand.

Nice are coached by Christophe Galtier who joined the club on a high after leading Lille to the French league title last season.

“We are still too far behind (PSG) to think about top spot. I’m more concerned by what’s coming up behind us,” Galtier said after the game.

“It’s about racking up the points and that can be tough when the opponent is fighting relegation. So this was just perfect.”

Eight points clear at the top of Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain play Reims in Sunday’s late game where Keylor Navas may be rushed back from a bout of Covid due to an injury to Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Navas went down with Covid just eight days ago.

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe were both in the PSG squad, with the Argentine also recovering from Covid and the French striker nursing a groin strain.