Following Monaco’s first-season loss, Paris Saint-Germain defeated their fierce rivals Marseille 3-0 at the Stade Velodrome on Sunday, moving the champions three points clear at the top of Ligue 1. By the half, the awaited first Classique of the season was virtually over as PSG jumped out to a three-goal lead over Marseille, who had sent Amine Harit out with a straight red card halfway through the first half.
“It’s a very positive result,” Luis Enrique, the coach of PSG, stated. “When you win a Classique away from home with such authority, that is a given.
“We honor this victory to the fans. For our place in the table and the fans, it is an important match”.
Before a terrible 10-minute period just before the half-hour saw Marseille lose Harit and give up a second goal when captain Leonardo Balerdi turned into his net, Joao Neves gave the visitors the ideal start.
Then, Bradley Barcola scored his eighth goal of the season and PSG’s third. Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille had a great start to the season and entered the game with the chance to win and move up to 20 points, their main rivals. It was a humiliating night for them.
Instead, they lost their 12th consecutive home league match against PSG, with hundreds of their fans leaving by halftime. “I am disappointed. We had planned a pairing of daring and personality. But until Harit was sent off, there was no daring or personality,” De Zerbi explained.
“It wasn’t the match we expected, which is an issue. We can lose, but wearing the Marseille shirt requires personality and courage,” the Italian coach added.
Neves, a Portuguese midfielder, scored his first Classique goal seven minutes in after capitalizing on goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli’s handling error. In the 20th minute, Harit was sent off for hurting Marquinhos in the stomach with a high boot, swinging the contest decisively in PSG’s favor.
“The sending-off changed the game,” explained Luis Enrique. “From then on, the match was harder for our opponents and less open.”
As if to exacerbate Marseille’s woes, Balerdi extended the away team’s advantage nine minutes later, stretching to cut out a seemingly straightforward cross and knocking the ball past the advancing Rulli and into the net.
PSG’s Barcola added the final touch five minutes before halftime, capitalizing on Ousmane Dembele’s determined buildup play.
‘Two stupid mistakes’
Earlier, high-flying Monaco missed out on a chance to take top of the table as they fell 2-1 to neighbors Nice.
Breel Embolo gave the visitors the lead in the first half, but Nice rallied through Evann Guessand and Gaetan Laborde to hand 10-man Monaco its first domestic defeat.
The principality side remains in second place with 20 points, three behind leaders PSG. “I’m not happy with the result,” stated Monaco coach Adi Huetter.
“When you lose a derby, everyone is disappointed, that is obvious. But we are guilty since we were in control of the game. It comes down to two foolish mistakes.”
Embolo broke the deadlock for Monaco in the 39th minute, finishing cleanly after being set up by Maghnes Akliouche’s through pass.
However, the match shifted in first-half stoppage time when Guessand equalized for Nice, and Monaco’s Brazilian defender Vanderson received a second yellow card.
Monaco lost because of a badly performed corner routine, allowing Laborde to run through fully unopposed before finishing on 71 minutes. Lyon drew 2-2 at home against Auxerre, moving up to seventh place in the league.
Georges Mikautadze twice put the hosts ahead, but they were pegged back by Sinaly Diomande and Hamed Traore. Strasbourg moved into the top half of the standings by defeating Nantes 3-1, due to a brace from Andrey Santos and a Dilane Bakwa goal.
Zakaria Aboukhlal scored twice in the first 10 minutes to lead Toulouse to a 3-0 triumph over lowly Montpellier.
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