PSG are now in pole position to reclaim the Ligue 1 title from Lille
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) recorded a 2-1 win against Marseille at the Parc des Princes and extended their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings to 15 points. Mauricio Pochettino’s side look well set to reclaim their domestic crown from Lille and took another step towards doing so with a victory in Le Classique.
Neymar broke the deadlock for PSG with a sensational first-time finish as he lobbed the ball past goalkeeper Pau Lopez after getting on the end of a Marco Verratti pass. The Parisians, however, looked a bit sluggish after scoring and were made to pay as Duje Caleta-Car poked the ball home from close range after Gigi Donnarumma failed to collect a corner.
The PSG goalkeeper has been underwhelming in recent weeks and once again cost his team a goal to gift Marseille a way back into the game. Lionel Messi produced multiple flashes of brilliance in the first half, but the Argentine had two goals chalked off for offside as he failed to add to his tally of three Ligue 1 goals this season.
The home side, however, did manage to get in front just before the interval, as Kylian Mbappe calmly converted a penalty after PSG were awarded a spot-kick upon consultation with VAR for a handball.
PSG and Messi were denied by multiple marginal offside calls
Lionel Messi once again failed to get his name on the scoresheet for PSG
The second half turned out to be a tight-fought contest as Marseille probed in search of an equalizer. Mbappe had the ball into the back of the net after being brilliantly set up by Messi, but PSG were once again denied by an offside flag. Due to the magnitude of the fixture, both sets of players were involved in a series of scuffles, with Matteo Guendouzi risking the wrath of the home fans by going down cheaply after being tackled by Neymar.
Marseille thought they had a late equalizer through William Saliba, but their joy was cut short by VAR as the Arsenal loanee was millimeters offside. Both sides made a handful of substitutions late in the game, with Marseille throwing on Cedric Bakambu to find a potential equalizer. But it wasn’t to be, as the home side maintained their composure to see off the game.
As PSG extended their lead at the top of the table to 19 points with a win against second-placed Marseille, here are some of the best tweets from the game. Most PSG fans were buzzing, but some were unhappy that Messi failed to add to his tally:
