THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — Amara Diane scored two second-half goals Sunday and set up another by Pauleta to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Lens 3-0 and win its first home game of the season in the French league.
Pauleta came off the bench in the 54th minute and scored four minutes later by converting Diane’s cross from the left. It was the former Portugal striker’s fifth goal of the season.
Diane scored with an angled half-volley in the 61st and, two minutes later, the Ivory Coast forward headed in Sylvain Armand’s cross to give the Parc des Princes fans something to cheer about.
PSG, which had not won at home since beating Troyes in May, had also lost its previous five home games against Lens.
The win put PSG into 11th place with 25 points from 20 games, while Lens is 18th with 20 points and a game in hand.
In a first half of few chances, PSG went close when striker Peguy Luyindula had a shot blocked by Lens defender Milan Bisevac in the 37th and Diane headed against the crossbar in the 43rd.
The home crowd grew impatient and chanted for Pauleta, and the former Portugal striker came off the bench to replace David N’Gog. Within two minutes, he flicked a cross from Jerome Rothen but goalkeeper Vedran Runje made the save.
Lens almost hit back immediately and goalkeeper Mickael Landreau did well to push away Nadir Belhadj’s shot.
Pauleta almost added a fourth goal in the 79th when Diane set him up again, but he dragged his shot wide.
Sylvain Wiltord scored two late goals for Rennes in a 3-1 win over Marseille.
Djibril Cisse gave Marseille the lead in the 17th, but Mickael Pagis leveled for Rennes in the 39th and Wiltord scored in the 82nd and 86th.
Wiltord headed in Jimmy Briand’s pass for his first goal, and tapped in his second four minutes later after Briand’s shot hit the post.
The win moved Rennes into ninth place with 28 points, while Marseille is 12th with 25.
Marseille was missing leading scorer Mamadou Niang, who is with Senegal preparing for the African Cup of Nations.
New signing Kanga Akale broke free down the left and his cross was headed in by Cisse. The pair previously played together at Auxerre and their understanding of each other’s play was evident on the move.
Fabien Lemoine’s pass sent Pagis through, and the veteran striker waited for goalkeeper Steve Mandanda to commit himself before chipping it over his head.
Marseille defender Juan Angel Krupoviesa was sent off in the 67th for tackling Pagis from behind. Moments earlier, Pagis had fouled the Argentine with an equally bad tackle, but escaped with a yellow card.
Pagis almost scored again in the 74th when he latched onto a pass from Jerome Leroy and forced Mandanda into a save.
On Saturday, Karim Benzema scored his 13th league goal of the season to help defending champion Lyon beat Toulouse 3-2 and move six points clear of Nancy at the top with 42 points.
Also on Saturday, it was: Bordeaux 4, Auxerre 1; Valenciennes 2, Saint-Etienne 0; Le Mans 0, Sochaux 2; Lille 1, Metz 1; Monaco 1, Lorient 0; and Strasbourg 0, Nice 1.